Old Wounds
by BraviaryScout
Summary: The Strike Blades return to finish their rough past and the reasoning behind their foundation as an old foe resurfaces. Dating back to the days of the Human-Covenant War with a secret plot to disable the Swords of Sanghelios, the more the Blades commit to stopping them and saving ONI from a disastrous crippling attack, the more personal the war becomes. Blades Volume 5
1. Prologue

**Minnesota State Maximum Security Prison #88**

**May 27, 2550**

Housing nearly four thousand and counting inmates, the eighty eighth Maximum Security prison on the Great Lakes area of the United Republic of North America sat twenty miles west of the outskirts in the Twin Cities Metropolitan area, an urban sprawl had once been on the east side of the state of Minnesota, but now had vastly expanded north and west to touch Lake Superior. It was the seventh most populous city in the American zone.

A driver would deviate off an always busy highway that circled the city that would again go on a road seemingly off a beaten path. They would eventually run through multiple checkpoints before passing through two gates and being scanned before being allowed to proceed.

Although the prison wasn't as sophisticated as the rumored Closet on a distant subzero moon, it still suited its job of keeping the hind end of society's felons, master criminals and psychopaths.

One individual incarcerated inside however, stood out among the rest. His age put him at seventeen and having been already put inside such a high risk facility meant that he had done something rather atrocious in order to land himself in sharing a roof with killers and those convicted of sexual assault. Multiple times for both.

He stood just under six feet tall with light blue eyes and a rather slim build. His hair was short, but locks of it overlapped his ears and tickled his forehead in bangs.

Either way, the young boy was perplexed at why the guards had taken him out of his cell just after a regular meal of stone hard bread and water to march him over to a social area, where three armed guards stood watch over the inmates playing cards and talking in the corners. There was a lot of thick tension in the air and he knew that he was not welcomed here, by either side. Many times, he was cast dark looks by fellow inmates and he only really had felt safe under the presence of the guards, despite their treatment of him not being much better.

Sitting at one of the tables was a man he had never seen before and while he had a bit of an evil aura surrounding him, it was more sinister rather than the just distasteful expression the less than friendly people that patrolled his new home of two weeks.

The guards all wore light body armor, built to shrug off physical attacks while providing a bit of a punch to their offensive capabilities. Instead of guns, they carried humbler stun devices, nasty electric batons that were enough to incapacitate even a heavyweight wrestling champion. Their faces were obscured by visors and their general attitude showed every bit of ego and arrogance in everything they did. Not once had any inmate ever seen a guard without one, as to dissuade in identifying who was who on what shift. Without their unique facial features being easily seen, they were as uniform as the black and white stormtroopers from _Star Wars_.

This man looked up at him from sleek black shades and he wore a simple gray shirt over khakis and had a guest badge pinned on his lapel by the prison, for all visitors.

"Mister Ethan Hunter Chancellor." The man spoke in a rather deep voice, but it reminded him more of a slimy snake, full of deception, with a regarding look that seemed to betray his true intentions. He then noticed a small patch on the man's left breast that depicted a triangle with a hollow circle in the center.

The man saw what had caught the kid's attention and pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket pushing it across the table, "Ah you like the symbol. I don't have to explain what it is then."

Chancellor unfolded the paper, examining it with question and looking back at the man.

"You're an ONI Agent?" He finally spoke, his voice half irritated and nervous at the same time.

"That's correct I work for the Office of Naval Intelligence as a field operative. You know Mister Chancellor, I find it quite intriguing that you've had such an complicated childhood. Parents don't give a shit about you and you're constantly trying to keep your little brother safe from your two older ones and your sister. That's what I call a fighter in you. Then I get word of a student that forcefully hacked his way into a secure high school database and stole the answers for two final tests, selling them to failing students. That my friend is a piece of work, especially for someone your age. I suppose I just had to see for myself, what it was about."

"Is that why I'm here? Is that why you're here?"

The ONI agent gave him a piercing look that could be felt even behind the glasses, "Then, the last straw was when one of your older brothers sent little Keith to the hospital, requiring stiches in his cheek. Three days later, your house infests itself with carbon monoxide due to a leak in the electronic valves. Now I don't have to look far to see what had incidentally caused such a thing to happen. Both you and I know what really happened. It's why you're sitting here in this concrete dump."

He took a sip of the ONI brand coffee, a brew that is rumored to stir paranoia, but it was still a taste he enjoyed nonetheless. "Listen, I'm here to give you a one-time offer for a second chance. I work for a highly classified division of the Office of Naval Intelligence who has been monitoring you. Aside from the cheaters and gassing up your own home to try and get back at your brothers and sister, you have a potential to be an invaluable asset to society, even when your parents neglected you. You have a brilliant mind which your teachers had all claimed had never been done before for years. Even the dumb AI creation you had used to bypass the servers containing the test answers is commendable. Your intellect is something they have never seen before and right now, they're probably wishing that your behavior was on the same level as you'd be bound to be the next multimillionaire."

Chancellor looked over at him, his gaze changing from boredom to listening. Behind his mask, the ONI Agent smiled, he had stirred his interest.

"You have two options right now." He continued, "In about an hour, you are going to be dragged in a courtroom where you will be charged with attempted murder on your older siblings. Your defense in this aspect is going to get chewed to pieces regardless of what statements they might have. Needless to say, you are going to spend the rest of your life here. Now your options are; you can remain here and continue to blame big brothers and sister for every issue that plagues you like a spoiled little boy. Or I can recruit you into the Office of Naval Intelligence and mold you into a man."

"What about the charges?"

"I can't do anything about that, but if people want to pry into the personal life of a Section Three ONI Agent, they best be watching their backs."

Even the stony faces judges of courts were wary, especially when a case involved an ONI Agent. In human society, the fear of ONI dispatching assassins and striking fear into the population hung over like darkened clouds. One lawyer actually won in a case against one and was found burned alive a week later. Which turned out to be no coincidence.

"Have you ever killed someone?" He asked out of the blue.

For a moment, Chancellor swore the agent stiffened, before his snake gaze returned, "Yes. Many."

The silence was unnerving. "Coming with me is going to be a very difficult decision. There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead and times where you will want me as your best friend and times where you'd want me in a body bag. However, I'll say this; you agree and nobody will ever fuck with you again. Those that do will know the true meaning of regret."

The agent could see a fire of vengeance burning behind the kid's eyes, invigorated by his words. One of the greatest assets an agent of ONI had was his or her mouth. Training had taught them that the use of words was enough to change a person's entire life. Often times, a complete lie told by one could pass as believable. They were that good. Just as important was the tone the user was speaking, as the subtle detail could be of equal importance as what was being said.

The ONI agent checked his gold watch, "I'm leaving in five seconds and was optimistic you'd be more eager to come along. However, your lack of a response bores me and it seems that my scouting has been a waste of time. I hope you make a decision quickly because once I leave out that door, your opportunity will leave with me."

Chancellor stared back at him, even as he got up to drain his coffee. He turned and walked out the door.

"Wait." Just as he passed the threshold, he barely heard the kid stop him. His mid six foot frame towered over him and he had done his best not to recoil from the poisonous stare. "What can ONI do for me?"

The agent raised an eyebrow and chuckled darkly, "Kid, it's more of the other way around. What can you do for ONI?"

* * *

**Hello everyone and welcome to the 5th volume of the Blades' adventure.**

**This first scene was inspired by Marvel's Agents of SHIELD in one of my favorite scenes in the entire show. So I took a part of its playbook in order to perhaps help in events that are going to happen later on in the story that I can't give away just yet. Despite the rather cold feel of this chapter, the first part I find might be a take on the funnier side.**

**More of what's going on with my writing is that this and one more Blades story will conclude Season 2 of its trilogy and the prospect of a Season 3 is uncertain, but is possible. However, I am in the midst of planning something a little different.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.**


	2. Auction I

**UNSC _Ballista _FFG-388 over Florida**

**October 27, 2558**

"Okay," A tall, lean dark haired man that was clearly irritated, held his hands up in a surrender at the top of a pyramid structured room that overlooked an entire ship's bridge, "You still haven't told me why you are forbidding me from working in my own company!"

"It's everyone's company," An older man with graying hair and a slouched figure opposite him in his fifties shot back, "I think you were a little deaf when I had told you that we demanded that you take a day off, which I believe you are maxed out on vacation time and haven't spent a single minute working off the clock ever since we started this company. Can you let us just take care of the paperwork for once." He waved him out of the bridge, "Trip, this is Florida for God's sake! Go swimming, surf, shop at the mall or even just lay at the beach with a beautiful young woman at your side I don't care! Just anywhere but here!"

Trip gave an annoyed huff before turning and exiting the bridge.

Andrew "Drew" Rayson settled back in the command seat of the UNSC _Ballista_, a highly advanced Guardian class stealth frigate built to bypass enemy fleets blockading a planet and focus on the ground assets. When the war against the Covenant ended, the ships were scrapped and stored at a classified site, although fate had other plans for the lucky ship.

She was one of only twenty one ever made after orders to manufacture nearly two hundred had been canceled, leaving the ship to be extraordinarily rare, since the UNSC's secret Office of Naval Intelligence had retired them inside a secret vault for decommissioning.

Agent Trip Aegis was fresh out of the Office of Naval Intelligence's top secret Section Three for an undisclosed amount of years and had left the agency deciding to create his own corporation that undertook all the high stake dirty work that ONI or the UNSC didn't want to take accountability for, but couldn't ignore. They were technically freelancers, but primarily worked for the UNSC or anyone that didn't damage their interests. None of their work could be traced back from an average check on their dossiers. They were immensely successful so far. In less than a year, they halted a slave trafficking attempt to illegally mine gold, defused a political tension between elite and human colonists and defeated a powerful cultist group in trying to force their influence over the human race.

They were called the Strike Blades, or Blades for short. However, he and just about any Blades member would easily call each other as a family.

The Blades did see their fair share of troubles and many of them were averted due to Drew's planning. Aegis would agree that his number two was extremely valuable and would've dissolved the group had it not been for his number two.

Another thing that constantly nagged Drew was that they always attracted trouble wherever they went and it was coincidentally always ready to strike in their presence. It didn't matter if they were on a distant world fighting overzealous Covenant or at Earth, trying to stop the latest terror group from exterminating a large amount of the population.

* * *

An hour later, he had finished another final report when his personal comlink rang inside his cabin. He kept the floor to a clean and tidy appearance, but his desk was cluttered with utensils, machine parts and half-drawn diagrams of improvements he had made to the _Ballista_'s systems, both internal and external. In addition to being the second in command, Rayson was also the ship's chief engineer and he had vouched for some of the most advanced engines humanity had ever designed. There were too many digits on their cost, but they had proven to be worth every credit.

"Andrew is speaking,"

"Is this Andrew Rayson?" A voice asked on the other line.

"Yes."

"This is Lieutenant Caroll of the Key West Police Department. Two robbers entered an electronics store, threatening the checkout clerk. A man in your company, A Commander Trip Aegis was also onsite when they had entered and now both perps are being escorted to the hospital under guard. He had personally disarmed and incapacitated them in a matter of seconds. We asked him if he could file a report to police, but he simply said that he was under orders to take the day off and referred to you."

Drew's mouth hung open. Aegis was out for only an hour and he already had run into trouble, "He neutralized two threats by himself?"

"He did." Caroll replied, "As soon as he went into action to attack the closer one, the second perp had a pistol and was too stunned to act before he too joined his partner on the ground. When all was done, he had gone up to the cashier and insisted on paying for his merchandise, even though she would have easily given him anything in the store free of charge."

"Do you need any of us down there for anything?" Drew asked, ready to send another member right down if necessary.

"We got it all taken care of. Thanks." The Lieutenant hung up.

"Unbelievable!" Drew exasperated to himself more than anyone, throwing up his hands in defeat as he strolled onto the bridge, "The Commander's off for an hour and he's already got two arrests."

The older man was known for his ranting, so typically the officers manning the bridge paid scant attention to whatever griping he had going on, but at the mention of the Commander, all heads had turned.

One of them looked completely different from all the other humans, formerly a member species of the Covenant Empire, humanity's nemesis for three decades, sangheili held grudging respect after joining forces with them late in the war. Upon its ending, the Blades had room and a handful of them, led by the former Spec Ops operative Vaal Talam had come under the company's influence. Talam was the number three and conducted his first operation with him as the direct commander a week ago.

Nearby was the remainder of the _Ballista_'s senior staff, Vasili Suvorov and Conan Pyra, massively built operation leaders and Spartan-IV supersoldiers. Leah Roush, a small Floridian woman who supervised intelligence, Danny Tyler and Luke Riley, responsible for navigation and the vast arsenal the _Ballista_ had in terms of firepower. The only senior member of the Blades that was absent from the bridge was Doctor Sofia Inselton, a Spartan-IV that formerly trained as a combat medic. She was only present if she was going to partake in an operation, when not, she would be found in her state-of-the-art medical ward with the latest and most advanced equipment available.

"Well let's all hope the rest of the day will be peaceful and the Commander can get his much needed temporary retirement from action." Vaal calmly concluded. He had seen his expression and ranting before putting two and two together.

"Oh don't jinx it Vaal." Drew groaned.

* * *

Two hours later, the majority of the crew had taken the day off, but spent it aboard the ship before the next mission by the _Ballista_ was to be assigned. By now, Drew would have a good course of action, but Aegis was actually the one who usually viewed the assignments and accepted them, although not before he consulted with most others. He was filing the paperwork and devising a plan himself. for their next move.

And now he was on vacation.

After the Lieutenant had hung up, Drew shook his head in annoyance, "Holy shit. We tell Aegis to take a day off and he goes down there, gets two arrests and saves an entire shopping center. Any other regular human being would go out to relax in the sun and maybe go dolphin spotting. But no, he then decides to go on his own with a supposed day off to continue sacking bad guys while making ours a hell over here."

"What's a dolphin?" Vaal asked.

"Fuck me." Drew muttered.

The bridge doors parted and Leah Roush rushed in, excitedly chattering to someone on her comlink, "No Mom, I haven't seen Waypoint news yet…yeah. Well I'm here right now with an available holoscreen." She hung up, "Hey guys, ready for another surprise?"

"Does this involve Trip?"

"Yep." She pulled down a holoscreen and flipped the channel to Waypoint news, one of the main stations for delivering the UNSC's current events. The network was active all around the UNSC colonies and its name was nearly associated with humanity's everyday life. Being a reporter or journalist for Waypoint meant a lot of money was to be made. There were few rival broadcasters and local news stations that could compete against them, but they usually lacked their reputation.

The pretty blonde woman looked at the camera, "Thank you Mitch, and continuing our breaking news highlight here in South Florida, a devastating fire has continued to rage out of control upon a block of condos." Footage played showing massive flames licking the sides of a building, spreading far enough to threaten several others beside it. Several fire vehicles had sprayed jets of water over the flames, slowly and steadily weakening the blaze.

"We still have two unaccounted people from the complex, a nineteen year old girl as well as a man who has been positively identified as Commander Trip Aegis, who had rushed inside the building upon hearing her parents calling for her. Aegis was also seen earlier today disarming a pair of store robbers in an electronics store."

"God damn is he insane?" Drew couldn't believe what he was seeing, "That fire is going to be the end of him and he's risking it all for a girl?"

"That's what I admire of him." Vaal said in awe, "He views the safety of others as a higher priority than his own."

"Wonder if the Lieutenant is going to call us back." Luke pondered from the back of the room. As soon as he did, the ship's comlink began to ring with an incoming transmission.

"You had to say something." Drew muttered, accepting a set from the officer manning communications before strapping it on and listening for a few seconds, "He is speaking…ok Governor. We are aware of his deeds. Yes, ma'am. We had given him the day off of our work." He frowned, "Ok. Thank you."

The line clicked dead.

"That was the Governor of the Florida Peninsula. She wants to know why Trip is being involved twice in the media today."

"How did the Governor get ahold of us like that?" Leah asked.

"Because she and Trip went to high school on Europa together."

The screen then showed the entrance to the condos as something moved inside. Moments later, Aegis emerged, covered in ashes and as he walked towards everyone watching expectantly, smoke and steam curled away from his body. In his arms, he carried a teenage girl in a bridal fashion, who was clinging to him and staring up with wonder at her mysterious savior. It was straight out of a movie.

The crowd watching the spectacle burst into applause just as he emerged and the flames had now been reduced to large embers. Even Leah found herself smiling at the display. He gently set the woman down by a waiting ambulance, spoke to a couple of firefighters and policemen before promptly departing, seemingly disappearing, much to the dismay of the reporters and journalists who had arrived onsite.

"There you have it. That was Commander Trip Aegis, although he did not stay behind for any attention. A real hero today. More on this story in an hour."

Drew couldn't take it anymore and switched off the screen. "Unbelievable. Maybe I should just pray that nothing happens anymore." He put his hands to his face in frustration, "I told him to take the day off. What have I done?"

Both Leah and Vaal saw his desperation and couldn't help laughing, only to stop when he glared at the two of them.

* * *

The next hour and a half, their comlinks were constantly being barraged with calls from every single network station within the entire state of Florida, all of them vying for a very exclusive interview with the state's hero of the day. Drew, Leah, Luke, Vaal and the majority of the ship's staff calmly answered every one, saying the same thing that Trip Aegis was unavailable and they did not know his location because he had turned his personal comlink off. The main communication officers of the _Ballista_, Tongju even picked up word of a rally in downtown Key West in order to find him. To Drew, now it seemed like they were more on a manhunt rather than searching for a mysterious hero.

Drew knew that the reason most of them were patched to them were because Aegis had previously deferred any further inquiries about him to his crew. While many outside a hero position craved such media attention, he was no stranger to being in such a spotlight and although he didn't resent it, he had no desire to revel with the praise. He was just a person doing his duty.

By the evening, the public surge with Aegis' heroic antics had not worn off, although most outlets had called back once again, asking to contact them once Trip had a convenient moment for an interview. Thankfully, the Florida Governor had also stepped in to assist in dismissing media stations, insisting that all questions to be referred to her.

When Aegis' transponder pinged its next half hourly location, Drew was very surprised to see it a couple of miles south of downtown Key West in the middle of the ocean. What was he up to now? His mind already envisioned him swimming out to sea to save people from a sinking boat.

"Maverick," He spoke to their chief pilot in his cabin, "Get the hornet ready to dustoff in five."

* * *

Aegis wore a blue tourist shirt with a pair of brown shorts as he battled the fishing rod in his hands to furiously reel in another catch. He had been out for only an hour and managed to reel in four fish, but only one was worth keeping. The plan was to catch enough fish for the entire crew and Francois to make some sort of baked fish dish, but he knew that the time needed to catch enough for his crew of nearly three dozen could go for the entire day. Most of the fish came closer to the top by night, so he had rented a speedboat with fishing equipment and headed out to a rather deserted section of the sea to relax and put his mind to focus solely on fishing and nothing else. On his seat's cup holder was a half consumed bottle of beer from a local brewery.

The sound of a hornet's engines came into audibility as he finally overpowered the fighting finned creature and began to pull it back to him.

"Holy shit!" The mahi mahi fish was massive in size, exceeding his armspan and it thrashed furiously in the waves as it tried in vain to escape. With a grunt, he heaved it inside the boat and pinned it to a bench to carefully remove the hook.

The hornet now came into view, blinking beacon lights across its hull. One man was strapped in the passenger side as it slowly eased its way over by his boat. The water rippled underneath in a stormy fashion as the second figure leaped from the edge and landed on the boat.

Normally if he was concerned with retaliation, he would have immediately taken action, but he knew that the hornet was his and it had approached with intent to bring a passenger to board, which he already knew who it was.

"What the hell am I going to do with you?" Drew demanded as Maverick flew away in the hornet to spare them the hurricane forces of the jet engines. "I tell you to take the day off and then you get caught up in messes that take weeks to clean up, plus we are handling all the press' constant attempts to get ahold of you because they want to publish an article that tops the news headlines with your portrait on the front! And I'm not even going to comment on the fact that you strongly smell like smoke."

"It's a nice fish." Aegis calmly replied, holding up the dolphinfish as if displaying a trophy and ignoring his friend's rant. "To answer your question, absolutely nothing. You need me and I need you. Simple as that."

"Okay." He folded his arms, unimpressed by Aegis antics. "So let's just say that you actually took my advice for once and did relax a little. How do you end up tangled in preventing a store robbery and rescuing a damsel in distress from a burning condo?"

"Because I am undeniably an epic, sexy beast and you know it." He waved the comment off, "I was in the shopping center because of a very special day that was a few weeks ago and I wanted to get my number two a present." When Drew's mouth opened, Aegis finished his point, "Yeah remember? That was the anniversary of the Blades' founding." He reached over inside a box and lobbed Drew a smaller package, "It's a fitness-band, so you can set goals and watch your figure."

Drew had wanted one for months now after declaring his 2559 New Years resolution, but that still didn't defuse his frustration, "Okay, so then what about the burning house?"

"It was also concerning work."

"I thought I told you to take the day off."

"Work was only discussed for a small part. One of the guys from Acheron Security was in town for a local defense convention in Miami and asked if I could swing by a bar for a drink and talk about old times. As I drove towards the place, I see the house on fire and volunteer with the firefighters to put it out. Then one woman from the place is crying because she couldn't find her daughter who was still inside. I ran in and got her out."

"Some mom." Drew muttered.

"Either way, I didn't stick around for a debriefing. Just got a word of thanks from the firefighters and left, thankfully almost unnoticed."

"Unnoticed huh? It's not that I'm complaining," When Aegis gave him a quizzical look, Drew paused, "Okay, rephrase that, it was supposed to be a day where you can relax and rest so that we can hopefully mount some sort of response for the shit we've been chest deep in about the Societea. Adding to that, we get calls left and right demanding to speak with you and give you a key to the city or some honor shit like that."

"Are you done?"

"No and the Governor had also gotten ahold of me and wants to see you at her office tomorrow. She says that after what you pulled today, nearly every female human in the state is clamoring for your attention. And let me tell you that Florida women are just plain gorgeous, but that's your problem now. So for what you caused us today, I think I need to get even with you."

"What are you talking about?" Aegis' eyes widened when Drew suddenly reached forward, shoving him back. He stumbled, just as his leg hit a crate on the boat and he collapsed, unknowingly leaning on the rail and fell backwards disappearing overboard with a splash.

Drew couldn't help himself and began to howl madly with laughter. He had some hilarious moments at work, but the simple off balance shove he had done to Trip was priceless.

Aegis emerged from the surface, spitting a mouthful of seawater from his mouth and making a rather disgusted face.

"Ok." Drew held a towel at the edge, "Now we're even."

* * *

**There is still more funny parts to come, although it might be lighthearted, it does have a significance later on.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	3. Auction II

**Key West, Florida, Earth**

**October 28, 2558**

Aegis had known the Governor of Florida ever since high school. His friendship with the woman was beyond just simple classmates.

Although Governor Wendy Harvin had her family from Tampa Bay in Florida, she had been born and raised in Mykonos, where she was Aegis' classmate for his four years of high school. They studied together through every thick and thin subject when they had classes together. When one of them was struggling with an upcoming test, the other was always ready to lend a hand in need.

Part of Aegis believed that Harvin had molded him into the man he was today. Being a runner in high school Gravball, he could always see her on the sidelines cheering him on; her shouts could easily be heard over the chanting cheerleaders in their attempts to rally the fans. His own parents came to a few games, but Wendy came to all of them.

Another order of business for him was to have a drink with her and catch up on old times, something he wanted to do for a while. The last time he had seen her was nearly a decade ago and they had pledged to meet up again, but his priorities with ONI and being a new Spartan-IV had impeded the reunion.

Now he was standing outside her private retreat house and he wasn't sure what to expect. One thing that nagged him was that one of the things she was going to talk to him about was the heroic acts he had done yesterday.

After hitting the buzzer, he was ushered in by a stern looking bodyguard and guided to her office.

Harvin's dark skin showed her Caribbean origins as she looked up upon hearing someone enter. Seeing Aegis ten years older caused her to break into a huge smile and she instantly stood.

"Trip!" Before he could react, her arms were wrapped around his neck and bear hugged until he was nearly choking. Meanwhile, he had a hard time getting a rather goofy grin off his face.

"Wendy." He gave a peck on her cheek, "It's been way too long! How have you been?! Wish I could be in contact with you more frequently."

"Politics get quite boring, especially after being forced to attend a rather lengthy lecture that's more for the press than the actual change. Last I heard, you've been restlessly running a security firm. Now that's something exciting."

"Yeah." He nodded, "We've been working indirectly for the Colonies since. I have many members, including some of the elites."

She obviously was surprised at that, "Really? You want a drink?"

"Sure. Whatever you got. Yeah I have a former special operations elite leading them named Vaal Talam. He's one of my best warriors and I can easily call him one of my best friends."

Harvin handed him a glass with a couple fingers of bourbon, "It's amazing you can work together so well."

"You forget I've fought alongside and against elites all throughout my years of course when we had established the truce. As long as we both see eye to eye, there is no friction between us. " He sipped his drink, savoring the flavor. "In fact, we had just brought down the Societea with their assistance."

"Ah, those fanatics were very troublesome in my campaigns and it took weeks to root their members off my staff so I have to thank you very much for that. Now, as much as I'd love to catch up on the last decade with you, I called you here for a reason and it's fit you do follow through, ever since I am allowing your ship to be berthed here in one of my ports without any repercussions."

There was no need to say that he was more than capable of heading to New Orleans or Savannah instead. He took another sip, "Go on."

"After seeing your heroic deeds that you did yesterday and the amazing avoidance of the press, every news station and show is demanding more of yesterday's hero of Trip Aegis." She gestured to all of him, "It's no secret that the two of us went to high school together and remained good friends so I've decided your payment."

"Payment for?"

"Payment for causing so much ruckus silly." She giggled slightly; Aegis was finding it a little hard to believe a friend of his could hold such a high position and find a way to be giddy at the most inconvenient time.

"I'm going to auction you."

Aegis had just about to take another sip and nearly spilled his drink in surprise. "You're what?"

"You make it sound like it's a worst nightmare."

"That's because it is!"

Harvin laughed, "Relax Trip. You really think I'd put you through something you are not comfortable at all with?"

"As a matter of fact I do." It was Aegis' turn to laugh, "Remember chemistry class junior year?"

"How could I forget?"

"Can't believe you want to sell me to a random lady and make me take her out on a date. I swear you planned this out."

"Actually, your number two Mister Drew Rayson gave it to me as a suggestion after seeing how the media reacted and that the annual Florida bachelor auction for children's charities of Florida will be here shortly."

"He's fired." Trip spat in mock anger. He was unafraid in a gunfight with bullets or plasma flying all around him, but his one biggest morbid fear was being in the center of attention with total crazy strangers. Especially women.

"Trip, this bachelor auction that we do every year, put all the benefits towards underprivileged children in the state of Florida. These are very rich women who contribute tens of thousands to this cause and many of them want to have fun in the process. I expect you to fully partake in this act and please don't disappear on a manhunt and get shot or injured. This auction has a lot of news and show coverage and because their demand for your public appearance, the auctioneer has decided that you will be the last one to be auctioned."

"So please tell me why I have to do this?" He pleaded. Right now, any get out of jail free card would be played by him, but he had none with her.

"First off it's because you do owe me for covering your operation in shutting down the Societea, although it was actually mutually beneficial. Second you also can thank me for defusing the media demand for your appearance and your only other option is that you can give an interview to every station in the state. Honestly, I think you'll have more time to catch and fight bad guys if you go with my proposition. So can you just please do it for me? For the children?"

His face remained impassive, "Okay."

"Excellent." She poured him another fill of his drink and one for herself, "To you. For hopefully having a successful auction that you can survive."

"I can drink to that."

* * *

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_

Aegis let out a loud grunt as he used his entire body mass swing the twin pronged blade at his opponent.

Using surprising speed for someone his size, his opponent Vaal Talam twisted out of range, countering his swing by holding Aegis' outstretched arm and driving it away from him before bringing his own blade up, intent on scoring.

With a move he never expected, he used his hold to barely avoid the sword away and twisted his entire body over his arm, forcing Vaal into an awkward position before slamming it to the floor. Stunned, the sangheili let out a frustrated snarl just as Aegis rolled him over his shoulder in a judo throw.

"Oof!" Vaal grunted, hitting the mat with the impact jarring the sword loose in his hand. He remained still for a second before rolling onto his feet and looking up at his partner, "Not bad Commander. I still remember that I can outdo my brother Ripa in a similar move."

"Not bad yourself." Aegis used his tongue, popping his mouthguard free to hold it in between his teeth before helping the larger elite up with two of his hands, "Thanks for coming with me here. Can't help but feel extremely anxious after finding out I'm going to be paraded in front of multiple women to be bought. Seriously, it makes me feel like a slave." Sweat coated his entire body and the training room was hot, so both of them had opted to forego wearing any shirt to remain cool as possible.

"You would fare through such labor much better than a simple unggoy if it were the case."

"You make it sound like it's an easy thing. Vaal, these are human women! They are machines with more sophistication than an AI! Leah and Sophia are just two examples and they're quite easygoing. Other ones are stories that I will bore you to death on telling."

Vaal shrugged, "You might not be comfortable with being around strangers vying for your affections, but at least they do have some interest in you. After all, what is wrong if a woman wants to mate with you?" He gave a deep chuckle, "I could teach your son to wield a sword like a true sangheili swordsman!"

"Seriously?"

"Just be yourself. Don't put up a charade or false act because that's what disinterests others. You might find yourself actually enjoying the moment. Do not worry, for I as well as the rest of the Blades will stand with you no matter the outcome."

Aegis smiled, "Thanks Vaal."

It would be unusual to see a sangheili place a hand on a human's shoulder, simply because it looked odd, but inside the _Ballista_, it felt normal. "Anytime brother."

Whenever Trip was riled up or agitated, Vaal was usually there to calm him down and talk some sense into his thick skull. He was almost like his nonexistent big brother.

A call on the room's comms caught their attention as Drew spoke up, "Hey Trip, someone's here to see you. We're in the captain's cabin."

Aegis tossed his deactivated sword hilt to Vaal, who put them away. These energy swords were low-yield, low-powered versions that would only cause a brief hot pain instead of the ones that easily severed through a limb. They used it during training exercises and sometimes sparred with one another, like what they had done today. He enjoyed doing it to let out any aggressive feelings as well as honing his prowess with a weapon that was actually rather fun to use.

He led the way, slipping on a casual tanktop that depicted a dolphin sunbathing with shades on, with Vaal trailing behind as they exited the main part of the ship. While the interior held richly lit hallways and the conditions to rival a five star resort, the skin side of the ship's innards looked abysmally in need of renovations. The walls had indents and dark streaks of grime with the floor looking as if it hadn't been cleaned in years. The ruse they used when interacting with officials of harbors demanding inspection, should they be flagged as suspicious was to deter their intentions and get them off the vessel as soon as they possibly could. Aegis recalled one man a couple years ago was trying to hold back his gag reflex after inspecting a hold. The interior had a non-lingering black mold appearance and was enough to discourage any further investigation.

The lighting was much dimmer here as they entered an office with the layout depicting it as his residence. There was a bed in the corner with crumpled stained sheets and a desk in the corner with two creaky seats in front. Littering the surface of the table was an old computer and a nexus of wiring that was probably centuries old. It was a marvel to see such a vessel in disrepair and still function.

Next to Drew was a tall gorgeous raven haired woman dressed in a casual lilac dress and a datapad in her arm. She sat at one of the seats opposite Rayson looking a little uneasy about the place.

"Commander Aegis." She extended her slender arm out, "I'm Cheryl Heath. I'll be auctioning you off."

"Oh hello." Trip tried his best to be at least a little enthusiastic and firmly shook her hand, "This is Vaal Talam and I assume you already know Drew."

If she was uneasy about the cleanliness of the ship, she was even more put off by the elite extending his hand out. Nevertheless, Cheryl tried her best to smile and make their pleasantries best as possible.

"I apologize for the filthy appearance. This is our appearance to outsiders which justifies that beauty is on the inside. I'd love to show you the rest of _Ballista_, but unfortunately there are many sensitive areas inside which I cannot have any outside eyes see."

"That's okay. I couldn't possibly imagine you all living like this."

"Neither could I. Is this office okay for discussion or shall we head somewhere instead? I've been craving a shrimp and crab cocktail with some tequila lately."

"I know just the place." She flashed a tempting smile.

Aegis stood and escorted her out of the _Ballista_ before they took the anchored elevator down to the port. Twenty minutes later, the two of them entered a small bar and sat at a table overlooking a white sand beach. The owner had instantly recognized him from the news and upon hearing his craving, had given him both of their orders, insisting that they did not pay and that it was on the house.

"So you're a female auctioneer?" Aegis asked after a couple minutes of eating.

"That's correct. While most auctioneers are actually men, I think it's rather strange to have a man auctioning off other men. Most of my auctions are art items, old cars, boats all that stuff. This will be my fifth year and it's so far been an enormous success with us breaking our previous record every year. The Governor's committees and supporters provide the space, refreshments and resources to minimize costs while we attempt to maximize our profits to go to the Children's Charity for Florida. While I am up calling the numbers like you'd see in a typical auction, I also have to tell backgrounds of all the bachelors in the best way possible. Sometimes it's hard to work around, but many of them told can be damn sexy."

The thought of his entire life story being spilled in front of strangers was not a thing he wanted to have covered on a broadcast, so he'd have to be careful in what he'd have to say. Based on his assumptions, he knew that his deeds made him the best potential to break the previous profit's record.

"So all of you will be wearing tuxedos and a reminder by tonight to be well kept and look as sexy as possible. Even without a tuxedo, you'd still do amazingly well I imagine. The footage of you carrying that woman out of the dangerous fire fed just about every woman's fantasy here in Florida."

"Fed a fantasy?"

"Yeah, a superhero prince. Prince Charming coming to the rescue of the helpless damsel in distress, riding off into the sunset to live happily ever after. It's very powerful and not hard to imagine that many women bidding will hope to have the same scenario happen to them."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Cheryl straightened herself in the seat, after she had subconsciously leaned forward, giving him a very nice view of a large cleavage. He threw a quick glance at it before looking into her chocolate brown eyes, "First of all we have to plan a date. What we usually do is meet the woman who won the bid before going on an activity that takes the majority of the night before having a romantic dinner and parting ways usually around midnight. Most of the restaurants that contribute give us the dinner in exchange for their advertising and publicity."

"Oh nice. So what do you need to know?"

She asked him an array of questions varying from his personal life to his profession. Aegis made care not to spill any classified details or sensitive information, but overall some of the answers were difficult because of his withheld knowledge. Once he had finished answering, she gave a frown and shuffled through a bunch of notes on her datapad.

"Okay, just trying to imagine the perfect kind of date here." She pursed her lips, "I understand your own ship has its luxuries, but if I'm not allowed up there, it is probably not a sound idea. You seem like an activity type of person which many of our bachelors are. One of them was a former Olympic tennis player and he gave his date some lessons before taking her out to dinner."

"I am an active type of guy," Aegis said, "Although I don't know if taking a lucky woman to go and shoot targets with a rifle is exactly what people have in mind."

"Neither do I. A date out on a yacht sounds excellent, but we already have all of our boats in use. Do you have access to any aircraft?"

"We use a hornet, two pelicans and a phantom. I've been able to fly just about anything since I was twenty."

"Here's what I'm thinking. You could give her a few hours of flyovers of Key West and Miami during the sunset before heading to a private island for dinner and then dropped off close to midnight. If you have a service UNSC airman outfit, that would be perfect and let me see it before approving and a tux for dinner."

"Okay sounds good."

"Excellent, now that the date is planned, here's what you're going to do. Before heading onstage, you will be expected to mingle with the bidders in order to charm as many as possible. We limit all of you to only one drink, where you'll emerge after I've described a little history about you and what you do for a living, which is why I asked you a few personal questions."

"Ah I see." Aegis nodded.

"Oh don't feel nervous." Cheryl giggled, "It's for a great cause and these women do a lot for the underprivileged children of Florida. You like kids of course?"

"Of course." Trip loved kids and he believed that they could be more mature than some of the people he had to deal with.

"Excellent. The auction begins on the second of November at seven in the evening, so please don't do anything stupid. I'll by later today to help in your outfitting and other preparations for the date as well as giving you an address." She stood and shook Aegis hand. "You know, I do have a feeling that with your help, we won't just break last year's record, but shatter it." Looking into her eyes, he could tell that she was very passionate about trying to help these kids. "Thank you so much for helping out. The Governor had said that you were going to be difficult, but she was clearly wrong."

"Yeah." Aegis drained the last of his drink, "She was."

* * *

**How much do you think Aegis will sell for? And I think a date involving shooting panicked grunts might be better off for two Spartans rather than Aegis and a lucky lady.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	4. Auction III

**Key West, Florida, Earth**

**November 1, 2558**

It was five minutes before the doors opened and the bachelors would be mingling with the women bidders under hopes of a romantic date.

They were all in a lobby with a rich white marble floor and oak walls. A glass chandelier hung from the ceiling and in the center was a rather ornate table with a vase of roses and several platters of refreshments.

Trip had actually followed the Governor's and Cheryl Heath's orders to stay out of trouble, freshen his appearance up and was wearing a solid black and white tuxedo with a bow tie. His muscular frame slightly bulged against the fabric and he would've looked uncomfortable had he been scowling.

The nineteen other men he had stood among had all shared his characteristic of being rather tall and wearing the black and white tuxedos. Some of them chatted to one another and they all shared laughs. Every one of them had a number sticking out of their breast pockets, indicating their order during the auction. Aegis' number was twenty, to show that he was going to be last.

Finally one of them approached Aegis and offered his hand, "Mr. Trip Aegis? I'm Gary, Gary Conway. I ran footage of your rescue a few days back on my Waypoint network. Finally nice to meet you in person. I know it's not exactly comfortable to see media outlets hounding for your attention, but you had become a hot sensation in an hour and this part of the world doesn't get stuff like that for a long time."

"Nice to meet you too." He shook Conway's hand, noticing the number eighteen on his jacket. "Glad I could be of assistance. Have you done this before?"

"Unfortunately yes," Conway gave a sheepish smile, "My now-fiancé wasn't particularly happy about it during last year's and this will be my final one, but it turns out that karma decided to show up when the winner was a fifty nine year old lady."

"Fifty nine?" Aegis' face whitened, "What are fifty nine year olds doing here?"

"They're all cougars man. Although most of them are forty to fifty years old. If you do encounter someone over sixty, they're usually lonely women who just want a little fun."

Part of Aegis felt a little relieved at that.

"Hey man." Another voice came from behind. Aegis turned face to face with a man who seemed just as solidly built as himself with a familiar face. "Just chill out, you're looking tense and unapproachable. I'm Skye by the way. Skye Gardiner." He extended his hand.

Trip was immediately ecstatic at the introduction, "From the Jovian Kings?!" He enthusiastically shook his hand, "No way! I'm from Mykonos on Europa! I've seen you and your dad play!"

Gardiner laughed, "Came back to my Miami hometown. I've got a floating restaurant at the docks and a nice piece of property here at Miami Beach."

"I still remember that run back in forty five against the English Bloodhounds! You evaded like four defenders before scoring!"

"To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing. All I remember was just trying to gain as much distance I could before being brought down!" This caused the two of them to laugh.

Gravball was the most popular sport in humanity and its highest governing body was the Colonial Gravball League. Not known to many, but Aegis was a huge gravball fan and zealously followed his home team, the gold, silver and royal purple colored Jovian Kings ever since he was a child. He could rat off the team's ten best players to ever play and it was on his bucket list to meet them all. So far, he had little success.

The junior Gardiner made it one.

Skye Gardiner was only thirty five with still a good six years of gravball to go, but had to retire early due to a career ending Achilles tendon injury in the 2557 season. His father, Larry Gardiner made his debut in 2521 and played striker through his entire career until retirement in 2535. He was considered to be one of the best to ever play the game and he had helped lead the Kings to two championships.

Aegis had gotten a senior Gardiner jersey number 24 when he was a child and it was his lifelong dream to meet the legendary striker. Now Skye had entered the league under pressure with nepotism to live up to the reputation of his father. He entered the league's draft in 2539 and was put on tryouts for multiple teams including the Kings, but also the Mira Griffins on Circumstance, the Sigma Octanus Sharks and the Pacific Sidewinders. He finally signed with the Kings as an undrafted free agent and was upgraded to their starting roster in 2542.

While he was a solid performer and did well in the Colonial Gravball League playoffs, he saw action in only one championship in 2548, however they lost. His career in professional gravball took a turn when the Kings released him and he signed with the Australia Rangers for four years and then it was cut short by the injury. Despite him not being able to live up to his father's reputation, he still earned a place inside the King's Hall of Fame beside him.

Aegis had aspirations to play in the CGL, having played it in high school and again in college, but the war and the 105th ODSTs had other plans for him. Still, he would really like to talk with a real pro to see how life would have been if he had taken a different turn in his career, not to mention the son of his favorite sports hero duo along with the commanding quarter of their time.

"Absolutely." Skye grinned, "When you've got a chance, I'd like to treat you and your task force as guests on my yacht. I truly appreciate what you've done for us."

As the three of them talked amongst one another, many other bachelors began to congregate around. Many of them had seen Aegis after his two heroic stunts and had given him business cards, offering to buy him a drink or simply some casual activity. He had met surgeons, personal trainers, lawyers and even a URNA congress representative from Key West. Everyone seemed quite nice and respectful to one another. For the first time in a long while, Trip found himself calmly at ease.

The doors suddenly swung open and the men all quickly lined up at the far left of the chamber. Cheryl Heath and Governor Harvin stepped inside, shaking all the men's hands. When Wendy came to him at the end of the line, she gave him a quick hug of appreciation and a gentle cheek kiss.

"Thank you Trip for doing this."

"Not a problem."

She gave him a knowing smile before beginning to mingle with the other bachelors. Just as he turned, back, the sounds of women had flooded into the room. Many of the bidders had already arrived, but five people had immediately stood out to him.

Drew was dressed in khakis and a black jacket and doing his best to hide his paunchy figure. "Hey, look at our very own Agent!"

Aegis grinned and knew that his partner's call was one of fun and nothing serious. Behind him, Vasili Suvorov, Conan Pyra were dressed in a similar fashion. Leah Roush in a beautiful blue dress and an older women in dark crimson gave him a nod as they followed the men.

"Hey guys." He gave the men a friendly slap on the back and Leah a hug, "Didn't know you all were coming."

"The Governor knew who we were and gave us a free pass inside. Besides, I would never miss this for anything." Drew couldn't help himself.

"What about the ship?"

"Vaal's in charge. Probably throwing a party by now."

"I didn't even know he was a partygoer." Vasili muttered.

Leah stepped forward with an older woman in two, but he saw a splitting image of her albeit older, "Trip, I want you to meet my mother, Julia Roush."

He bent over, "It's nice to meet you, Mrs-"

She waved him off, "Oh it's just Julia, Commander."

"Oh, well then call me Trip."

Before any of them could continue, a tall gorgeous redhead had approached Aegis. "Are you one of the bachelors for tonight?"

"Yes ma'am." Aegis' face turned a little pink.

"I just love a man with all that muscle." She cooed, squeezing his shoulder and smiled with a set of perfect teeth, before strolling off to examine another bachelor about halfway down the line.

Aegis thought he heard Drew purring like a tiger.

"Oh guys, this is Gary Conway and Skye Gardiner, they're also going to be in the auction with me."

"You mean THE Skye Gardiner?" Conan shook his hand. They immediately hit it off as the men gathered around, all the talk about the CGL and memories of notable plays that he had done.

"Trip? Skye?" Cheryl had now stood behind them after a couple minutes of laughs, "I have several of the donors and children I need you to meet."

"Of course." Both men reluctantly agreed and she had looped her arm in Aegis' before moving off.

"I feel so bad for him right now." Vasili said what had been on everyone's mind.

"It's my fault, but totally worth it." Drew replied.

"Don't wish that was you?"

He scoffed, "Maybe if I was two decades younger. Still, it is wishful thinking."

Aegis and Skye were posing with the Governor and a group of the children for several photographers. Drew saw him holding up a young dark haired boy and girl in each of his arms. She whispered something in his ear to make him smile and he planted a kiss on her cheek, causing her to giggle happily. The scene was definitely off, seeing his mercenary no-nonsense, crazy half-beast Spartan best friend with a pair of kids just didn't fit together all too well.

"Looks like girls love Trip, no matter their age."

The appetizer round lasted maybe an hour before the guests were escorted to their tables and the men headed backstage. Aegis had received multiple congratulatory remarks and business apps from nearly every other bachelor to come swim, surf, dine or just hang out. Somehow he felt as if he was inducted into some secret society of handsome single men.

The auctioned bachelors. That title fit perfectly.

Cheryl began lining the men up at the wall just behind the stage, going over each man and inspecting them all. Gary was eighteen, Skye was behind as number nineteen and Aegis was number twenty.

"Okay gentlemen, here we go. When you're called up, I'll bring you out, so walk onstage to the runway and make eye contact. Remember to smile and be approachable before turning and coming to stand next to me. By then, I'll be calling the bids and when the woman has won, I'll give you a rose and you'll present it to her along with a nice kiss on the cheek before exiting. Anyone have questions?"

They all shook their heads.

"Excellent. Good luck out there to you all." She stood to the side.

"Ladies and gentlemen," The entire room dimmed and trained spotlights onstage, "Please welcome your auctioneer, Cheryl Heath."

She strode onstage dressed in a sleeveless black dress that elegantly flowed around and took her position at a podium just to the right of the stage's runway. A warm round of applause greeted her.

"Thank you everyone for coming tonight. We have twenty fine bachelors here this evening with an equal amount of fine dates, but first, I have a reminder that tonight is not just about them, but for the children of Florida and the world. Earth and her colonies have millions of their most vulnerable citizens under attack due to their lack of proper food, shelter, clothing and education. Tonight, we will do everything possible to contribute to the battle against this hidden crisis."

On the screen, a short montage and slideshow began to play, depicting some of the children that the efforts would go to help. Some of them were in well developed parts of the world. Aegis helped kids out whenever he could, but he was instantly moved, knowing the awful stories of many children that had suffered, ranging from poverty, domestic abuse or even losing everything to the Covenant. The war had still burned severe scars into humanity and it still affected people today, especially children.

The slideshow ended and the crowd burst into applause, with some of the more emotional wiping tears from their eyes as Cheryl headed back onstage.

"Thank you again, this is something that all of us truly care about because the welfare of our children is what will set the foundation of us as a future. Now we only have twenty bachelors which is not enough for all of you, but I still urge you all to bid high and please donate regardless if you win a bachelor or not. Now, onto our first bachelor."

Aegis watched as the first "victim" headed up, "Our first bachelor today is one of Florida's leading accountants, Mister Lance Willis graduated with a degree in business from Bronson University in Circumstance and interning under the care of three Swiss accountants, quickly becoming successful in a span of six years with his own firm -"

There was so much detail that was put into something like this. Onstage, Cheryl was speaking and the projector had now turned to show several pictures, usually being one of Lance Willis in his office, looking handsome as ever.

"The date also includes an afternoon at a private beach before a beachside four course dinner. Let's bring him out, Mister Lance Willis!"

The crowd went into applause as the man himself journeyed across the stage, posing with the same contagious smile before walking back. By now, the audience had even begun bidding before Cheryl could even say that she had opened it. About a minute later, Willis was sold to a woman in her early thirties for twenty two thousand. He gallantly presented her with a rose and a gentle kiss on the cheek as the woman sighed and her friends behind had begun to giggle.

The other Blades had sat at one of the tables a couple of rows behind the main stage. They were watching with growing interest as the bachelors kept coming and nearly every single one of them were aggressively fought over with numbers slowly climbing up for usually a couple of minutes before selling out usually around the twenty to twenty eight thousand mark.

After the tenth bachelor, the URNA congress representative had sold off for thirty nine thousand had been auctioned off, Cheryl took a brief intermission and waiters had catered to tables to refill drinks.

* * *

"You know, I don't know how I would retrain myself with all this." Julia Roush said to her daughter as they sat at the table and watched the bachelors get auctioned.

Leah's cheeks turned a bit red, "Mom?"

"How can you work so many hours with this Commander Aegis and not want a piece of that?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Now she was a bit more embarrassed, but couldn't stop herself from laughing at her mother's remark, "Mom! First of all, he's my boss and second, he's more in love with his job of protecting the galaxy than he would be with a woman."

Julia giggled, "I'm not saying you should marry him. I'm just saying he's very handsome and heroic. You two would make beautiful babies!"

Leah rolled her eyes. Her mother was always raving about grandchildren ever since her daughter had turned nineteen.

"Oh good lord." Drew and Vasili groaned at the same time upon hearing the lewd comment.

"Well that's one thing I won't be able to get out of my head for a long time." Pyra added.

A chime broke their thoughts as Cheryl quieted the crowd to continue the auction.

"We are well on our way from the bidding alone to reaching our goal of five hundred and fifty thousand credits. With the ticket sales and donations, we are sitting right now at three hundred and twenty seven thousand! It would be wonderful if we can all work together to break our goal of five hundred and fifty thousand!" With that, she continued the auction to thunderous applause.

The next seven went through smoothly, leaving Gary, Skye and Aegis left.

"Oh shit. This is when the stuff drops like a pit in my stomach." Skye confessed as Gary had walked out onstage. "It's not about the date y'know. It's the bid. Maybe we won't get enough for break that goal she had talked about earlier."

"Well I think we both have to reach twenty five and a half K to crack it."

Skye slapped him on the shoulder, just as Gary was sold to an older woman, who revealed that he was actually for her twenty two year old granddaughter, causing everyone around to laugh. "You my friend will do great. Women love a hero man and I remember some of my waitresses and staff talking about wishing they had enough to buy you ever since word got out you would be in the auction."

"You say so."

"Okay. Here I go. Wish me luck." Skye stood to an attendant who made the final adjustments before he departed. Playing on the overhead display were some footage of his tenure with the Jovian Kings and the same play that he and Aegis had talked about was suddenly being shown to everyone. The women cheered at the sight.

The uniformed Skye jumped to the side as two of the red and brown defending Bloodhounds lost their balance, trying to contain him before he broke another pair of tackles and continued towards the goal zone using incredible speed, leaving anyone pursuing in his dust.

Aegis stood at the end of the stage out of sight as the attendant fixed his collar and he checked his hair to make sure it was styled correctly.

"Go get em Commander." She chided.

Skye was sold higher than the expected twenty five K credits at thirty thousand, which meant that Trip would have to be taken for at least twenty. He took a deep breath. This was it.

"This is our final bachelor for the auction and he may be last, but is definitely not the least. Commander Trip Aegis has put himself on the grid and captured our hearts when he performed not one, but two heroic acts in a day of saving a store from robbers and rescuing a girl from a burning building just a week ago."

The screen played to the footage of him carrying the young woman out of the blaze, at the sight, nearly every woman gave a sigh of dreaminess. Afterwards an image of him in gravball armor pads was shown along with a couple of teammates.

"The Commander was born in Mykonos, Europa and starred as the striker and return specialist for the Telos-Kadar High School Centipedes, during which he had set records which several remain unbroken at the facility today." An holo-still flashed of his younger self in the orange and white gravball armor, dancing in the goal end as he lobbed the ball into the stands of screaming fans before jumping up and hitting a teammate midair. "He served for multiple years as an ODST with the one hundred and fifth Shock Troops Division. This was followed by a transition from a Helljumper to a highly decorated career in the Office of Naval Intelligence and return to the battlefield, this time as a Spartan." An image of him on a deserted battlefield in ODST armor flashed onscreen his helmet masking whatever face he had on at the time, followed by his unsmiling official ONI portrait. "Trip Aegis now heads an elite private security firm to work tirelessly to ensure that Earth and her colonies remain a safe place to live."

He almost began walking out, but it was the screen that had caught his attention. Shown was an image of Aegis and Vaal during their sparring session with a shirtless Trip, midway through tossing the sangheili over his shoulder. His muscles had bulged and his eyes were locked in a determination stare. Even his ripped abdominals were emphasized, being glistened with sweat. Some details, like Vaal's size had been enhanced to make him slightly taller. He could easily tell that the image had been tweaked to make heroic Aegis seem like he was beating up an evil Covenant villain. Upon seeing the picture, the women in the audience literally squealed.

"The hell?" Where did all these pictures come from?

"Now, to the date." Cheryl smiled. "Commander Aegis is fully qualified in three different classes of aircraft piloting. You will be flown by him in his own personal pelican aircraft to a private island in the Pine Island Sound where you will be treated to a hot stone massage followed by a romantic dinner on the beach with a traditional Aruban dance. You will have your own private five star suite at the Castaway Resorts and then Commander Aegis will fly you to a flyover tour of Miami and then back to Key West. How bout we bring out Commander Trip Aegis!"

The entire crowd just lost it. Leah was surprised to see her mother jumping up and down with excitement as Aegis made his appearance.

"How about I just use the money that I saved for your wedding to buy him?"

"What?" Leah was now mortified, "Mom! Mom, you're going to buy my boss for me?"

"I never said he was going to be for you!"

Aegis walked to the end of the runway and barely could make out anyone since the lights had glared right into his eyes. However, he folded his arms in a badass pose and finally caught where the rest of his team was at. Sending Drew a deathly look, his warm façade returned before pointing towards three other young women in the crowd and giving a flirtatious look. That earned him excited shrieks from them before he went to stand next to Cheryl.

"I'd like to open the bidding."

Before she could continue someone had already screamed, "Ten thousand!"

"Twelve thousand!"

"Twelve thousand five hundred!"

"I hear twelve thousand five hundred?" Cheryl confirmed.

A shout of twenty thousand was heard and that had silenced the majority of bidders. Another one of thirty thousand had outbid the previous. The numbers kept climbing up and Aegis began to wonder how much money they were willing to spend to figuratively put their hands on his muscles.

It ended up with four or five women all in an intense battle of money as the total climbed up to forty thousand and even began to approach the fifty thousand mark through every two hundred and fifty.

"Fifty five thousand!"

"I have fifty five thousand going once!" Cheryl paused for a bit of dramatic flair while at the same time, attempting to locate the bidder, "Going twice! Sold to bidder thirty nine for fifty five thousand dollars!"

* * *

**Aegis was by far the most expensive bachelor that night. Who be the lucky lady that won him?**

**What a fun chapter to write! I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, things are getting a bit hectic with work and stuff. Plus I am finding myself having less and less time to write and I want to have a chapter or two cushion in front of my posting.**

**So thank you to all you faithful readers for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.**


	5. Auction IV

**Key West, Florida, Earth**

**November 1, 2558**

The crowd at the auction began to part as Aegis approached bidder number thirty nine.

She was fairly short, not too short though, with light brown hair and azure blue eyes. A dark blue dress hugged her curvy body and a diamond necklace sparkled in the light.

Aegis handed her a rose and tilted his head to give her a kiss on the cheek.

She did something unexpected, shifted her head at the last moment and giving him a full passionate one straight on the lips. Everyone started cheering and yelling enough to seriously deafen him. He straightened after breaking and looped his arm in hers before escorting her to the back of the stage.

"Tonight," Cheryl said after the crowd had quieted, "We did not reach our goal of five hundred and fifty thousand. We made six hundred and twenty thousand credits thanks to all of our bachelors and the efforts of Commander Aegis!" With that the crowd cheered loudly again.

"Let's bring all of our bachelors out and let them pose with our winners!" At this, all nineteen other men had emerged all of them carrying bouquets of roses with Skye handing off a second one to Trip.

It seemed as if the night would never end, for the first time, he and his lucky lady, a young schoolteacher named Jessica were interviewed by every news station finally getting their chance to speak with yesterday's hero and the woman who was about to get the weekend of her lifetime. He was starting to get tired and exhausted, still not believing the fact that being a handsome bachelor took away so much energy. The feeling of being alone in his shower back aboard his cabin was right now the best thing. Still, he and Jessica continued to smile and answer questions. The look on her face when asked about the children's benefits told him that she truly cared about the well-being of the younger ones. That was someone he could live with. There was no doubt that Jessica Hall was definitely an attractive woman.

This was a date right? Not a matchmaking scheme?

Before he left, Cheryl thanked him for participating and offered congratulations, continuing to promise a take him out to dinner in the future after his date. Aegis had an underlying thought that she too was interested in him.

Their date was set during the evening of the next day into the third of November since it was an overnight trip and then afterwards, Skye had offered all members, both bachelors and their winners to dine on his yacht to reminisce the memories.

So maybe it wasn't a super subliminal matchmaking scheme after all.

* * *

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_** in orbit over Florida, Earth**

**November 2, 2558**

Deep within the confines of the _Ballista_ was one room that was closed off to most others except one.

Hugely contrary to the architecture of the remainder of the vessel, this small room was dark, being lit only by dim blue panels that lined the walls.

The lone figure sitting in the center hadn't moved for three hours, remaining completely still and deep in thought.

Ever since he had abdicated from the Covenant and joined the Blades, Vaal Talam had himself being questioned for who he truly was. On the exterior, he was shown as precise, surgical, efficient and usually the one who was the most level headed in a situation.

His older brother would probably be writhing in his grave after learning that he had joined forces with humans and called them friends. Pyate Talam was his true inspiration, being a devout follower in the Great Journey and would have no doubt made the Zealot rank if given another few months. He was the oldest of the five Talam siblings with Vaal being second, Ripa, their sister Lehr and then Akuo, the youngest.

The years of abandoning the Great Journey were difficult, although he always believed the path in working towards the reward was what had made things truly memorable, rather than the destination itself.

His inner sanctum was the only Covenant themed section on the ship, having renovated it himself in order to achieve his time alone to think and ponder about what he was doing. So far, he had seemed fairly satisfactory about his decision and the bonds he had made with the humans aboard were enough evidence that the war against them was rather wasteful.

New evidence had risen that the High Prophets had declared war on humans because they had realized that they were the true inheritors over the Covenant, contrary to what was first perceived. So they ordered the extermination of every human, insisting that they had defiled the existence of the forerunners.

Vaal knew that if the truth was ever revealed, the entire foundation of the late Covenant would destroy itself, but then again to save an empire that had existed for nearly four millennia about anything was needed to be done.

The sole comlink in the room began to beep, bringing him out of his thoughts.

He slid out from his meditation position, a posture that caused several of his muscles to ache and stretched before walking over.

"This is Vaal." He slid apart another section of the wall and pulled out what seemed to be a drawer with a glowing blue face. A holographic projection of another sangheili appeared on the tank, although unlike most elites seen, he was clad in simple white and gold robes.

"Brother," The servant gave a short bow, a sign that Vaal himself had returned. "I bring unfortunate news."

This particular sangheili was one of the head caretakers of the Talam State in the Eudemon colony and his younger kaidon brother Akuo's personal servant and friend.

"What is it?"

"We've been attacked. The village of Huifas was decimated and its inhabitants have been slaughtered."

"What?" Vaal was completely horrified. "What did this?"

"Jiralhanae raiders. They attacked in the early morning yesterday. Took the city forces by surprise."

"What is the stance of the SASE and the humans on the matter?"

"Kaidon Talam..your brother is delivering the message to our elders and will be gathering the other kaidons of the other keeps to discuss it. As for the humans, they have already received word and have offered their assistance if necessary."

"That will take too long and he knows it." Vaal countered, "We need to incite direct action on those beasts."

"Precisely, this is why I contacted you. However, I am just a servant and an adviser, so I do not have the authority to legalize any action. I am hoping you can contact your brother and talk some sense into him."

"Most of his talking is merely for show and if he wanted to get things done, he'd do it himself." Vaal agreed, "Okay. I appreciate you coming to this matter and I will discuss this matter with him."

* * *

**Aegis on a date, Vaal on a mission, shit's going down. Things are starting to pick up pace. Chapter's a little on the short side, although it's mainly a filler for now.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	6. Raiders I

**Key West, Florida, Earth**

**November 2, 2558**

"Commander."

"Vaal?" Aegis was standing at a pad in Key West's airport just underneath the wing of the Blades' pelican that was going to be used for their flyovers. He had already submitted flight plans and course charts, even already aware of weather patterns, which spelled clear skies. An excellent day to fly.

"We've got a problem. A pack of jiralhanae raiders has massacred a village in the Talam state."

Aegis knew that Vaal's close ties to his brother caused him to go in immediate help. "What of the SASE?"

"They and the UNSC are debating internally about a proper response."

"Figures." Aegis grumbled, people more concerned about their public image rather than getting situations like these to be done and over with. "Okay, have you talked your brother into letting us intervene?"

"He has agreed. After he showed me the footage and it is not very pleasant."

"Okay then. If you're going to evict those brute raiders, we're going to need to do it quickly and quietly."

Vaal nodded, "Understood Commander. We should take no longer than two days."

Aegis chuckled, "Don't worry about me. Just take care of your little brother and we'll rendezvous back here in Florida to plan our next move. I think we may have a couple more jobs lined up."

He hung up before walking outside, feeling the cooler air-conditioning of the pelican's cabin dissipate into the heat of the beating sun.

"Okay Agent." Drew held up a camera, as this was a rare opportunity to catch Aegis in clothes he would probably never wear again, a bomber jacket over a plain white T-shirt and dark denim jeans. A pair of aviator shades was on his face protecting his eyes from the ever-harmful sun, although he would have personally preferred his own sports sunglasses.

"You know," Leah said as Drew continued to take pictures, "My mom wanted to start a Trip Aegis fan club."

"There goes any more undercover operations I plan on doing." That deadpan prompted him to continue working on the pelican.

"The Commander sure looks different in those clothes," She whispered when he was out of earshot.

"And acts different too." Drew detected a hint that she meant more than what she had commented on. "Remind you of anything?"

"Yeah, total stud. Hotshot cocky pilot not to mention a freakin chick magnet."

As soon as he had left, Leah and Drew were set to return aboard the _Ballista_ and set a course for Eudemon in helping Vaal in his own part to evict the brute raiders.

A car had pulled up beside the aircraft and opened its shotgun and passenger doors. Three people emerged before the driver had turned it around and drove off.

Not only was Jessica one of them, but he recognized two of the kids he saw at the auction the other night. Immediately, the girl's face broke into a huge smile as she ran across the tarmac and hugged his leg tightly. The little boy looked a little shy and intimidated at his bigger presence, but Aegis squatted down and offered his hand, which had seemed to bypass his defenses and instead he put his arms around Trip's in an affectionate hug.

The act made him smile, something he had not done for a long time. These kids were the ones he would not mind taking in and raising as his own. He wondered if the kids were here because they wanted a ride in the pelican.

"So are we all ready to go?" Jessica asked as she wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug.

The kids nodded enthusiastically as Aegis just gave her a quizzical look.

"Oh I forgot!" She put a hand to her mouth in frustration, "Trip, it's not just me that's going to come with you. I'm bringing Jeremy and Sophie here along so they can have swimming lessons and a fun time at the resort."

Aegis found himself breathing a sigh of relief. While part of him wanted to spend some time alone with Jessica, he figured that she had a different ulterior motive in bringing the kids along. It seemed as if she loved them to death and they looked up to her like a mother. He had already packed swimming gear to use at the pools should he get some spare time.

Aegis bade goodbye to Drew and Leah before escorting Jessica and the kids onboard the pelican's rear cabin and keying the engine. The ramp in the back pulled shut, flaps and rear thrusters flexed themselves as the VTOL eased itself over the pad before ascending and then curved towards the skyline in the distance.

Drew waited until the pelican had flown out of sight before they both walked back to their car, "With Trip gone over to the Pine Island Sound, you think we should give them early warning that he's coming?"

"What do you mean?"

"Something's bound to happen over there. After all he still has two more days off."

"He has a schoolteacher and two kids with him. What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

**Huifas, Eudemon**

Huifas was a small village located about twelve miles northwest of New Thansan and fifteen west of the border between it and Mastema, the UNSC capital. The sangheili state was mostly situated in the desert, but springs of water as well as a lake had been found underneath the surface, causing it to be the wellspring of life for both sides. The capital of the Talam state was New Thansan, a thriving metropolis that had a lukewarm relationship with its Mastema counterpart just visible over the horizon eastward.

Formerly, the moon had been shared by both humans and elite colonists who had settled post-war. Of course, the truce between the Swords of Sanghelios and the UNSC was uneasy, as there was talk and action on both sides into putting the other one down for good. Tensions ran high on the moon, a prime example of the new cold war and escalated merely a few months ago, when both human and sangheili supremists had taken catastrophic actions against the species of the other end to claim the moon fully as their own.

If it wasn't for Aegis, Vaal and the Blades' intervention, a war could've broken out. The fault traced back to his former mentor.

Vaal clenched a fist at the thought of his teacher. Ever since he had attended the academy, Sovl Talam had been nothing but a mentor, friend and even dare he say it, a father figure in his life. Under his tutelage, Vaal had mastered the art of the energy sword and granted a swordsman's blessing. He had been noticed by the Special Warfare Group and signed onto a Special Operations Team.

Sovl had also secretly headed a Templar society known as the Vahkai, a group of the best students to weed out impurities and ensure that the war colleges never had their ideals or traditions compromised. They had also stood for the greater good of the sangheili people. Members would have elaborate tattoos all on their upper bodies and usually ascended into prominent positions within the military. A Vahkai member was ordained for life and the secret fraternity could quickly sway others to their will through battle, politics and regular civilian life.

Sovl's push for sangheili dominance on the moon was what had gotten him killed by Aegis and his cell of the Vahkai inexplicably vanished afterwards.

Could the attack on the village signify that they were back for revenge? The idea of them manipulating jiralhanae with starved resources to prey on unarmed villages was a rather farfetched idea, but it wasn't impossible.

Huifas was a cluster of tan huts and home to about three hundred and fifty sangheili. The largest hut was situated in the center with a small courtyard and garden. Surrounding it were smaller huts arranged in circles at the edge of worn pathways. Beside the big hut was a small area of canopies for vendors to sell goods.

Normally at mid-afternoon, the little village would be thriving with people moving about, but instead Vaal could see limp gray and light brown lifeless bodies of fellow sangheili as the Blades' T-52 phantom edged closer to the settlement. Behind them, a pair of light blue colored phantoms belonging to the SASE trailed behind.

Vaal slid the craft's side door opened and exited out when it had slowed to a crawl at the edge of the first set of huts. The SASE slowed down and both deployed two squadrons of peacekeepers, all of them igniting their antigravity backpacks to cushion the high drop.

The new armor design for the new ranking of sangheili in the Eudemon pact incorporated traits of Spartan MJOLNIR armor while retaining aspects of traditional Covenant harnesses. The helmet was domed and polarized a dark purple by hexagonal panels, similar to that of a ranger. The rest of the armor was more bulky with large shoulder pads. The chestplate and leg pieces looked just as oversized. Their entire skin, save for their heads were covered in a sleek flexible nanolaminate suit.

These peacekeeper harnesses were designed to be able to suppress illegal activity and when in the state of war, it had modular sections to sacrifice its original protection in favor of enhanced mobility. The armor components would retain the shield generator and the power source. Not to mention that the harness would be used to intimidate whenever necessary. The SASE reverted to a standard combat harness whenever in the state of conflict.

Regular troops would have grayish-white armor while head peacekeepers wore light green.

Typical armament included the T-25 plasma pistol, T-25 plasma rifle and the T-33 needler. More specialized forces had access to the more powerful equipment and kaidon Akuo Talam had negotiated a contract from Lodam Armory to begin issuing T-55 storm rifles to the wartime soldiers.

Vaal held a pair of plasma rifles in his hand as he quietly instructed the peacekeepers to spread out.

Huifas had relied on protection from New Thansan, which was usually a much more tempting target, as the village was pretty much in the middle of the desert. Peacekeeper manned banshees often flew overhead on patrol and the expansive space often gave plenty of opportunity to conduct exercises, doing a double role of satisfying sangheili lust for combat. Therefore, other than the elder and his allies keeping his laws enforced, the village simply relied on itself for its own protection.

Vaal's helmet sealed over his head as he took precautions of brute raiders using bioweapons and started his search, with one of the head peacekeepers and two of his subordinates.

The amount of carnage he was seeing rivaled that on the Sub-Aqua resort a couple months back except this time, he felt much more rage build up inside of him. He was used to the genocidal death toll on humans, having participated in it himself. Now he was feeling the same thing that billions of humans had experienced.

This paled nothing in comparison to what the war had done. Even now, six years since the conflict had ended; the scars both sides had left on one another were virtually irreparable.

The brute raiders had killed everyone, men, women and children.

His brothers didn't all completely go down without a fight. Vaal found several of the larger men beside crushed hilts of energy swords. The mix of dried red and purple blood meant that the elites had killed off some of their attackers, the absence of their corpses meaning that their compatriots had cleaned up their dead.

Still, all it took was the elimination of all the fighting men and then easy pickings for the rest.

"Anything else?" The head peacekeeper asked. He listened to his squadmates before turning to Vaal, "No survivors. They killed every last one of them."

"They'll be back." Vaal said suddenly.

"What?"

"The raiders annihilated everyone and didn't take anything. Either the attack was just a scouting party or they've gone back to get transport for all the resources. After all, they would know to attack in between your banshee patrols and you would have known if there was any orbiting ships. They're not going to stop until they burn this place to the ground."

The head peacekeeper was about to ask what he was going to do when Vaal had raised a hand up to silence further inquiry, "These beasts are intelligent, as hard as it is for me to say, we can't let their simple logic cloud our judgment. We'll stop them here, make them pay for taking our people's lives."

"Then what?"

"Then I am going to find out who did this."

* * *

**Vaal was asked to join the Vahkai before his tenure with the Covenant, however he had declined. More of this decision will be explored throughout the story.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	7. Raiders II

**Miami, Florida, URNA**

**November 4, 2558**

Because Vaal had used the _Ballista_ to head off to Eudemon, Aegis was due a day later to catch a flight from Miami to Mastema to rejoin the rest of the crew.

It was the evening before his flight left the Miami airport so he had time to accept Skye Gardiner's offer to gather with the other bachelors to relieve their dates the other night. He had never revealed any details about his own, so Skye had invited Jessica Hall, who took Jeremy and Sophie along as well.

He picked them up in a rental car and drove downtown to Skye's boat, which sat moored on a long pier that stretched out to the rest of the Atlantic Ocean. He remembered flying in the pelican over this part of the city the other day. The enormous black and white vessel was a thing of beauty with long beams and an overall fast sleeker look. Aegis had hardly ever saw waterborne vessels nowadays, but their frames and how they easily glided through water still amazed him.

"Hey! Trip!" Skye greeted them on the gangplank close to the ship's stern, giving a brotherly hug to Aegis as they walked onboard, "Come on in! We weren't going to start our roundabout without you!"

He led them across the gangplank and inside. A rich white floor gave way to dark red furniture and then proceeded an enormous room with a warm atmosphere.

Seated around a large oval table in the center were at least thirteen other bachelors, although now they had traded their uniform tuxedos for casual wear. They were all sitting at the table, talking amongst themselves, laughing and having a good time in general.

"I swear," Skye had been in the midst of telling a story to the other bachelors when they had found some seats beside him, "This is one to remember. Especially when she lost her necklace while we were walking knee deep in the surf. Apparently, she thought she saw a small shark that swam close to us and she was in the midst of throwing her hands up in fright when I found out it was just a piece of seaweed!" This got everyone laughing to the point of tears. "So her necklace just drops into the water and vanishes from sight. One lesson I've learned throughout my years, never ever take jewelry with you when you go and swim!"

The rest of the bachelors cracked up with laughter, even Aegis found himself grinning.

"That's terrible!" One of them remarked.

"So I ended up having to pay for a brand new identical necklace with Italian diamonds and got into contact with my jeweler so they'll make a replacement necklace within a few days. Cost me nearly seven grand! Most expensive date I've ever done!"

Everyone laughed again with Skye receiving a couple of slaps on the back.

"So, Trip why don't you spill the details about your date?" Someone said from the table's other side.

"Yeah, c'mon. You haven't told anyone about it."

Aegis saw that he was losing this battle, "Well the four of us had a normal adventure. I wouldn't call it special."

"What do you mean the four of you?" Gary Conway asked.

Jessica spoke up, "It wasn't just Trip and me, I took Jeremy and Sophie here. I had seen them before the auction and knew that we were just meant to be a family so I had put out adoption forms and thought that this trip was a perfect way for us to bond. I already knew that the kids were fond of Trip here."

"That's a lot of money for doing that." One of the bachelors quipped, "Are you planning on making them call him Dad?"

"Who knows?"

"So if Trip here isn't spilling anything, why don't you Jessica?" Skye gave her an intriguing look, which was something that wasn't missed by Aegis.

"Okay, we um headed out from the airport towards Pine Island Sound and mid-way through the flight, we saw a school of dolphins so he hovered close by. The kids were so excited to see them and I was completely amazed at what you can see from thousands of feet above. We got to the resort in no time at all. They were even more thrilled at my flying before I even had arrived."

"Wait, what flying?"

Aegis shared a glance with Jessica before sighing, "The kids wanted me to do some tricks, so I did couple of barrel rolls and then flew higher up and cut the engines, letting us free fall for a while."

"Holy shit!" One of the bachelors exploded, "Was everyone screaming?"

"Not really." Jessica said, "When Trip said what he was going to do, we strapped in and before we knew it, we were upside down and falling. I've never felt anything like it. I don't have to say that the flight pretty much topped any roller coasting rides I plan on taking."

"The kids love amusement parks and they had a total blast," Aegis continued, "So we landed at the landing pads flying normally and took a limousine to the resort."

"What's it like?"

"Holy crap, it was amazing. The entire surrounding pool area was kind of like a river with big lakes. Some of them had slides and others had little playground structures for kids. Our room was like twice the size of an average house here with a king sized bed and two queens in an adjacent room. Trip let Sophie and I have the king while he and Jeremy had the other twins. So we quickly unpacked our things and then grabbed a quick lunch. I was needlessly surprised when Jeremy was distracting Trip for a moment when we sat down and Sophie stole all his fries."

The other bachelors chuckled.

"How is it my fault?" Aegis asked. "Jeremy was asking me how it was like to be a hero and before I know it, all that's on my plate is my sandwich. Next thing I know, they're over innocently at the other side of the table, sharing my fries amongst themselves."

This got them all laughing and the kids had briefly blushed while helping themselves to a couple slices of pizza.

"Not like I needed them anyway."

"So we went back to our room to enjoy the view of the ocean and the pool staff was offering free swimming lessons to the kids, so we agreed before getting the kids dressed for their swimming lessons." Jessica said. "Did you two enjoy them?"

"Yeah!" They both cheered excitedly, before Jeremy spoke up, "You gotta learn how to swim if you're going to be a Spartan." He and Sophie had finished their food and climbed up on Aegis' lap.

"So you're planning to be a Spartan?" Gary asked.

"Yeah, way better than a superhero!"

"What makes it better?" Jessica asked.

"Well I want to work with other Spartans on a team. Trip always told me that you should put your team first, so I'll grow up to be a Spartan and be on Trip's Spartan team."

"Jeremy, not all members of my team are Spartans, but I trust them to do their job."

"Then they're the best!" He happily declared, "So I can help save people like Trip."

"Save people?" Skye caught on to what he had said.

"It was nothing."

"Oh c'mon, you gotta let us in on what happened." Gary pressed.

Aegis rolled his eyes, but was unable to suppress the smile on his face, "Well there were a lot of families and a couple of the parents had dozed off, probably from a long trip there and they had a few children playing on the pool playground. A couple of the kids had climbed a little too high on one of the playground pieces in the deeper end of the pool. I got them down and pulled them out."

"You say that's not a big deal?"

Jessica rolled her eyes in a similar manner, "It was freaky more than anything. Trip and I were just lying together enjoying a drink when he apparently saw it out of the corner of his eye. He almost threw Sophie at me and then took off running faster than anyone I'd see run. He then dodged people and things as he ran unlike anything I've ever seen. So he dove into the pool just in time to catch the one hanging off the edge and brought him to shore before managing to help the other one."

"And this was all before the lifeguard on duty had even registered what had happened. I had checked the kids over; they weren't hurt but just really scared."

"That must've been crazy." Skye said after a moment of silence. "Those were some gravball juking skills right there."

"Straight up!" Aegis bumped fists with him.

"Yeah it was. Trip was the hero."

"So what did you do after the pool?"

"By then it was about six in the afternoon, so the kids just had a quick dinner and we dropped them off at the daycare the resort offered so that Trip and I could just have a little time together. We went to one of the resort restaurants and got a table for two, but unfortunately…"

"My money's on a group of bloodthirsty Covenant breaking in and Aegis killed them all this time." A bachelor named Kerrick said.

Trip shook his head, "Actually we found out that the two kids that Aegis had saved were the children of a large family reunion at the resort. Their father was one of seven children and thus had an enormous table for all of them there. Some of them were from New York, others Chicago and another family from LA. Anyway, they recognized us from earlier that day and insisted that we join them for dinner. After Trip was introduced as the savior of a couple of kids, he was toasted by the family. Eventually it got a bit out of control because I swear that he was being toasted at least a dozen times."

"Soon enough they began to toast the waiters that came to our table." Trip added, "By then, I knew that the day was going to be far from over."

"So we eventually excused ourselves and grabbed the kids. The day was nearly over and we were all tired, we ended up just crashing in our room. Then I woke up in the morning and realized Sophie wasn't in the bed."

"Where did you find her?"

"Well after searching every room, I stopped in Trip's and saw her and Jeremy both sleeping under Trip's arms. I shook them awake and asked what they were doing. Jeremy said that since Trip had protected them all day so they wanted to return the favor and protect him from both sides of the bed as he slept."

"Aww." Everyone grinned at that.

"Yeah, I woke up myself and see my two little guardians here by my side." Trip laid Sophie on her back and tickled her stomach gently, smiling at her giggles. He looked down to see Jeremy asleep, lying against his side. "In the end, we ate a quick breakfast and got ready to do our flyover of Miami this morning."

"The kids got gift bags from the resort while the two of us got T-shirts. We then headed out to the Pelican and were about to take off, although," Jessica looked over at Trip.

"They might as well know everything else I did."

"As we took off, we saw police sirens and cruisers chasing an armored car that we saw at the resort earlier. Before any of us knew what exactly was going on, Trip had raced the pelican in a full on airborne chase on the highway. He gave them a little bit of help."

Aegis gave a thumbs up, "I didn't put anyone in danger, just flew a low pass and hover above the van so that it was forced to stop. He could've got full force against a heavier flying machine, but we all know who would win that battle. Instead, the would-be thieves freaked out and drove off the road into a sandbar and got stuck. I landed nearby and helped the police detain one of the suspects who had tried to run. Needless to say, he didn't get very far."

"What did the kids think of it?" Gary asked.

"They thought it was the best thing ever. Both were cheering me to shoot them."

"Shoot them? What do you have to say about that?"

"Well I do have an autocannon and lateral turrets, but I prefer missiles so that I can shoot without having a need to really aim. Before my flight, I had already stripped it of weapons, but I suppose if it came down to that, I could have instructed Jessica on how to use the rail defenses."

Everyone roared with laughter on that.

"So after I dealt with the officer in charge, we did our normal Miami flyover and dropped everyone off. Nothing eventful after that."

Jessica noticed Jeremy and Sophie drifting off into dreamland, so she picked her soon-to-be-adopted daughter up and was about to wake Jeremy when Skye had moved over behind her.

"Here, let me get him."

She agreed and he picked up the little boy, wrapping his tiny arms around his neck.

Aegis and the remaining bachelors offered to help the staff cleanup, which was done quickly and efficiently. When he was done, Skye was waiting for him carrying a sleeping Jeremy over his shoulder.

"Hey Trip, you seem to have found that special someone. Just say the word and I'll be here to help you out." He raised his eyebrows.

Aegis shook his head, "Skye, I've seen the way you look at her. It's crystal clear that the two of you have a thing."

"She's obviously attracted to you and I'd say that she is perfect for someone like yourself. Why wouldn't you want to go for something like that?"

"Who said I didn't? There's nothing more I'd love to do than to settle down with a beautiful woman and have kids. She's looking for a quiet family life and right now, my occupations as a Spartan and to my company are anything but that." Their gazes turned to the curvy body of Jessica as she waved at the men, "Let me tell you one thing, Skye." Aegis' voice turned darker, "You have my utmost respect as a player and a man. So if you hurt her in any way, shape or form. I'll hunt you down myself."

The other bachelors were beginning to leave, casting goodbyes to Aegis, Skye and Jessica as the departed. The former gravball star nodded solemnly, "Hey, I want the same thing. She seems like someone really special and I'd love to have a family of my own."

"Well do go after her." Trip encouraged, "You'd make an excellent couple and family."

"Thanks." He held out his hand, "I'll see you around?"

Aegis firmly shook it, "Yeah."

* * *

**So we temporarily depart from the action to catch up on what Aegis did on his special date and it was quite memorable.**

**This chapter was supposed to be out a couple of days ago, but I haven't had time to edit/post it until now. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	8. Raiders III

**Huifas, SASE, Eudemon**

**November 3, 2558**

"We got contacts coming out of slipspace in grid nine-three-two. Signatures have been detected and I have confirmed sighting of four T-five six Lich class platforms with banshee escorts on a vector

"Ballista, keep a low profile," Vaal gave his carbine one last examination before motioning to the other SASE peacekeepers nearby, "Trail the vessels and do not reveal yourselves unless necessary." He turned the channel, "Shipmaster, are you in position?"

"We're awaiting your go."

The _Ballista_ and SASE stealth frigate _Final Imprint_ were cloaked in geosynchronous orbit above Huifas' rough location and already had a bead on the jiralhanae transports that were inbound towards the plundered village. While the lich transport had slipspace capabilities, the banshees did not and thus were concealed inside before exiting and then being released.

The formation was something Vaal Talam had seen before, the fighters would go to attack the prime defenses and what they couldn't destroy, they relayed back to the heavy troops to go after. Provided they weren't triple A, then the rapid rushing of enemy forces could quickly overwhelm defensive maneuvers.

Even though Vaal specialized in unconventional warfare, he knew the basics of military tactics and was no master strategist, however the formation and urgency of the raiders was what had him puzzled.

They eliminated all the main village's defenders who only had contact with the SASE once a day and now either had sent a second force to eliminate sangheili reinforcements or were just another looting party.

So why were they in an attack formation?

The liches and their banshee escorts soon disappeared down to the moon's atmosphere. _Ballista_ followed short, with the _Final Imprint _trailing close behind.

The four teardrop shaped ships slowed their descent at six thousand feet and slanted their vectors, quickly slowing down and hovering just by the village keep. Green gravity beams touched the ground and almost immediately the raiders began to drop out. Nearby, the banshees lazily circled around, providing overwatch, but also keeping a smart eye for any incoming threats.

The SASE would have already dispatched seraph fighters to intercept the unidentified aircraft, however the ambush provided that the raiders still maintained the belief that they had taken the village unnoticed.

The brutes that were deployed had little to no body armor, instead having their brown and grayish fur grown a bit longer than what Covenant would have standardized. Their weapons were fairly typical, spiker pistols, the new jiralhanae designed eviscerator automatic rifle, essentially a bigger version of the spiker that shot nasty painful rounds and the brute shot grenade launcher.

Upon hitting the ground, a captain gave a snarl to spread out to his subordinates before joining a group. Moments later some would emerge carrying tools, supplies, food.

"They're looting everything." Conan Pyra said, but his words were unnecessary.

"Our timeline is running." A half mile outside the village Vaal and Pyra were sitting amongst a pair of the Blades' warthogs and three of the SASE spectres.

The feed running through Vaal's HUD confirmed to him as a more elaborate armored jiralhanae pushed his way through two others that were toying with bowls. The long hammer with the blue glowing head confirmed that he was the chieftain or at least, the leader of the raiding party. So far, none of the other SASE forces had reported him.

"Okay, we're executing." He flashed a light over at another cloaked sangheili. As the kickoff, he raised his beam rifle, centering the scope's crosshairs on the nearest target and pulled the trigger.

Upon firing, his cloak had deactivated and the beam flashed through the air, cutting straight through the jiralhanae's thick skull and dropping him to the ground.

The others around him let out a bark of surprise and were in the midst of reacting when the sniper targeted his second victim and he too shared the fate of his pack brother.

The holographic canopy concealing the vehicles in the desert snapped off and the two groups accelerated towards the village.

Vaal was in the lead warthog and saw the banshees detect them through their systems. All six broke off their circling and dipped down, firing their boosters to attack speed.

Watching their response, he waved at the spectres. The drivers acknowledged his gestured and slowed their approach, the gunners pivoting upwards and not hesitating to fill the sky with long streams of white hot plasma. Two of the attacking purple fliers broke off their attack upon being shot at while the others began to return fire. Parts of the desert began to crystallize into mini glass spots where the superheated plasma had impacted.

With ODST Hamed at the wheel and Pyra on the gunner's, they immediately came across the first piece of resistance. The latter opened fire with the chaingun, bullets effortlessly ripping into their skin and sending them down in bloody heaps. One of them had thrown a baseball bat shaped spike grenade before being gunned down, which landed harmlessly away. The red hot metal shards pinged off the windshield of the hog, still the occupants couldn't help but flinch.

The elite spectres' continued to wreck havoc on the attacking banshees and their drivers juked the crimson vehicles from side to side, avoiding any retaliatory action. The final purple craft exploded, showering the ground with tiny metal shards before they boosted through the west side of the village and began attacking there.

Back further in the keep, the chieftain emerged to see what the commotion was. Seeing his forces under attack, he gave a low growl and spoke into a communicator.

"_Ballista_ is going hot!"

"Deploying vampires!"

With the air support from the banshees eliminated, the _Final Imprint_ unleashed her compliment of T-27 vampire anti-aircraft fighters. While they were very handy for dealing with banshees, they were crucial in stalling the liches from escape.

The chieftain knew that his plan was in ruins and that the sangheili had known of his raid all along. So the best thing he could do was to make a hasty escape. It was against the jiralhanae conscious to retreat from a fight, but he was also quite aware that doing so could result in another more favorable confrontation.

They began to fall back to the main keep, where the gravity lifts were active and began to rapidly ascend into their transports with what goods they had. Many of the supplies had been dumped and discarded the moment the SASE and Blades had sprung their trap.

A quartet of the V-shaped vampires began to egress across the sky and quickly stuck one of the liches with their blue beams, the other three joining suit. The stasis fields were capable of immobilizing any aircraft while at the same time, damaging internal systems to make the victim ship useless. After a few seconds of concentrated beams, the lich's hull began to pop with small explosions. A single vampire's stasis function was enough to take a banshee or hornet, but more were required for something as large as the lich.

Vaal's warthog barreled its way through another pack of retreating brutes. The chaingun was red hot from firing and the tires flexed as it ran over another two. One of them jumped on the passenger seat, but was immediately killed when the sangheili activated his energy sword and gutted him through the blade forming.

Behind him to the north, the _Ballista_ revealed herself, launching three solid streams of point defense tri-barreled Death Machine miniguns. At the same time, the _Final Imprint_ approached from the northeast, unleashing a volley of plasma fire, streaking white comets that homed in on the lich being painted by the _Ballista_.

With a deafening explosion, the lich was vaporized and the sound and vibration felt as if thunder had crashed directly overhead.

No sooner had the two liches been destroyed, the chieftain had himself beamed up and the two surviving ships wasted no time in revving their engines to head out.

Without thinking, Vaal immediately exited the warthog and took off sprinting towards the closest lich as fast as his legs would allow. He activated his antigravity pack, jumping up and letting his ascent get bolstered by the repulse generator. The feeling of weightlessness took over, allowing him to relax his posture.

"Vaal, where are you going?" Pyra asked.

"Following the brutes. I'm going to board the lich and follow where they go."

The lich's shields were beginning to activate when he landed on the top of the hull. He was crouched in a vent on the dorsal side when the entire cabin had been sealed.

"_Ballista_, keep up pursuit, but let them escape."

"What? Why?" Drew asked.

"I am stowing away on one of the liches," Vaal subconsciously looked to his left and right as if an eavesdropper was listening in. "I will be placing a tracker so that we can locate the hub of the raider activity."

"Were you spotted?" Nobody ever doubted his skills, but they still wanted to know his intention.

"I don't think so. Listen, the brutes are leaving in a hurry. Have them mop up any survivors and regroup. I will be in contact as soon as I can."

"You know Trip won't be happy."

"He is very stubborn on something like that. I am willing to accept full punishment for my upcoming actions. However, this is an unprovoked attack against my brothers people….my people. If he's willing to condemn me for this, then fine."

"You do what you need to do brother." Drew calmly replied, knowing too well what matters concerning family or friends could do to someone. "I'll deal with Aegis."

The portal for slipspace opened up for an unknown vector and the two liches had broken atmosphere before sliding into the black circle in the center, vanishing as the bubble collapsed and left the blackness of space once more.

* * *

**Deep Space, Location Unknown**

In deep space, far beyond the edges of any orbiting planet lay a trio of Covenant liches moving about. They skated roughly five hundred meters apart from one another as glowing cables dragged and fused an armor component into seemingly nothingness.

Had one looked closer or even looking at all, the distortion was what had kept them from prying eyes of any potential ONI prowlers. The active camouflage cloak over the giant vessel served to conceal its signature.

As if anyone was watching anyway.

ONI was everywhere and what they did was unfathomable.

The vessel's bridge was situated at an elevated tower that appeared just as another part of the hull, but instead had polarized sections to allow a single-way view of the surroundings. Monitors could also be brought up on any window to provide perspective on every potential angle of the giant ship.

The lone individual sat at the only chair in the entire room. Although it was enough to fit a dozen crew members, only he would occupy the room. Visitors were optional.

His fingers tapped furiously at the console and his eyes darted extremely quickly from one bracket of information on the display to another. Beside him, a sleeping computer projected a hologram of a man's muscled upper torso. A pair of curved daggers were held in both fists stretched outwards in a switchblade style.

His trademark logo, soon to be applied on the ship's side.

The Guardian class frigates were what caught his attention, as their size and capabilities of the engines were what he had initially desired for his personal vessel.

An alarm brought him to his senses; he had about a minute before the ONI spooks would catch onto his presence. Thanks to his new AI, as a test he had initially ghosted his way into a Naval Intelligence server and decided on researching on the Guardian class frigates, vessels that had a massive production order, however were cut short for an unknown reason. He wanted to know why.

With all but two out of commission and stored in a secret ONI vault, his finger brushed the virtual band of text of the named vessels. The two of them that were still in use.

UNSC _Ballista_

UNSC _Axis_

His ship was much larger and much more threatening than either of those ships in their worthless state as deemed by ONI. It was a sad sad shame that the agency found no use for such expensive ships. Either way, he was about ready to do the same act to them.

Now it was time to start figuring out where his wanted ships were up to lately. The _Ballista_ sounded like a perfect start.

* * *

**The Blades are in for an introduction and this guy might know more about them than they think. Things have gotten quite busy with work and stuff, so I've had to take a little bit of time away from here. Hopefully that didn't deter any of you. If it did, I send my apologies.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	9. Chasseur I

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_** in orbit over New Thansan, Eudemon**

**November 3, 2558**

"I've completed my autopsy on the dead," Doctor Sofia Inselton concluded as she stripped examination gloves off her hands and deposited them in a hazard waste can. "These jiralhanae were as healthy as a horse when it comes to their standards. No strange readings as far as I can tell."

"For a group of needy raiders, they sure do look healthy." Drew piped up.

Aegis stayed silent as the doctor and Drew spoke to one another. Although brutes seldom raided, it was usually because they desperately needed supplies or because they were starting a war. The dead gorilla creature on the table weighed nearly half a ton, requiring Aegis to have to drag the corpse into the examination room.

Both reasons were perfectly logical with jiralhanae society, but neither really fit. It was almost as if they attacked for the sake of attacking. Another reason that wasn't that false either.

"Do you think that maybe the brutes attacked just because they wanted to fight or kill?"

"I wouldn't put it past them."

"Alright boys," Sofia shooed them out of her lab, "If you're not going to talk about anything autopsy or medical, get out." She shot Aegis a smile, "I'll call if I find anything else."

Half an hour later, Aegis and the majority of the senior staff with Inselton this time were seated at a meeting table. Vaal's seat was notably absent and the Commander was far from pleased, but not surprised when Drew had informed him about the sangheili's quick haste to board and relay the raider hub's location.

"He's a hard bastard and I have no doubt that he will pull though." That was enough to save the matter for later.

Bowls of New England style lobster bisque and freshly baked bread were being served for lunch and Aegis had begun by giving a brief rundown on how his date had gone before diving straight to business.

"Danny what do you have?"

"We ran the tattoos the brutes have against known patterns and I got a match on two of them. The patterns are matched to a Vheiloth skein, basically a large group of their tribes," Danny explained. His hair was neatly gelled and he kept a trimmed beard that was dark brown. A pair of blue wire-rimmed glasses sat on his nose and he wore a shirt with an egg with arms, legs and sunglasses atop where its "head" would be with a posture of lying down on a beach. Text on the top said, "Got laid today"

"The Vheiloth and the Rh'tol are the two major meta-packs in brute culture and are just about as opposite as they come. The Rh'tol typically believes in muscle and tradition and the Vheiloth are more liberal and open to new ideas. These two meta-packs have pretty much had a bitter rivalry even before the Covenant ran into them. Records that ONI had recovered indicate that when the Covenant was encountering them; they were just on the verge of discovering radio. Hard to believe this too, but they had actually stepped back in technological advancement and their status prior, evidence had shown they were using nukes."

"Scary thought." Drew muted aloud.

"Tell me about it." Danny swirled around a hunk of bread in soup before popping it in his mouth, "Their use of nuclear weapons and their warlike culture had de-evolved them back to pretty much equal to a caveman state. Anyway, the brutes still had clung to their Vheiloth and Rh'tol skeins though the holocaust, still continuing to harshly oppose one another as they worked to rebuild their homeworld. This Cold War was still well alive even though the species nearly made themselves extinct."

"Did this rivalry between the skeins continue through the Covenant?"

"Quite so. When the Covenant had begun to have internal turmoil, most of the brutes that took the positions of the outcasted elites were of the Rh'tol skein. They still had a bitter rivalry with the Vheiloth, but most of the disputes were easily controlled by Covenant leaders. The most notable brute of the modern Rh'tol is Tartarus."

"The chieftain responsible for attempting to activate Halo and killed by the Arbiter."

"Correct." Danny was immediately impressed that his Commander had known where this was going. "Upon fragmenting of the Covenant, multiple brutes began fighting one another. The absence of high leadership and moral figures caused the two skeins to declare their uneasy truce to be invalid and they would start to fight one another again. Lots of clans still have numerous Covenant assets under their control and are still deemed threats by the UNSC."

"Like the clan that attacked Providence."

"Right, since they were quite a large group, they were enough to dictate high UNSC response."

"Were they Rh'tol?"

"No, actually they were Vheiloth." Luke said.

"To elites though," Vasili pondered, "They turned a blind eye."

"Part of it is because the SASE doesn't want the UNSC meddling in its own affairs unless it directly concerns them or they ask for assistance." Aegis said, "However, the Akuo reached out to me and said he is willing to pay the equivalent of fifty five million credits to locate and eliminate these raiders."

"Is that why you are not surprised at Vaal's antics?"

"I had a hunch."

"Are you mad at him?"

Aegis shook his head, "Nah, he's going to be on kitchen cleanup duty for a few days but that's it. I trust his judgment and know he will provide us with something."

Vasili laughed, "Think he and his brother had conspired to counter the raid before we went to help?"

"Well we don't have much lined up for at least a while, so yeah. Kill a few angry brutes and earn a few creds, why not?"

Aegis comlink buzzed with an incoming call, it was one of the SASE commanders.

"Aegis."

"Commander," The sangheili's gruff voice drifted from the other end, "We were in the middle of investigating one of the crashed liches in Huifas and found something intriguing. It is clearly human made as we have run it across all available databases and found nothing. I think you might be able to determine what it is."

"Give me a couple hours and I'll be right down there."

* * *

**Huifas, State of Talam, Eudemon**

Aegis and Danny Tyler took the T-52 phantom dropship down to the sandy surface. Huifas had a large part of it destroyed during the firefight and smoke still billowed from the wrecks of the destroyed liches. Huts and other buildings had collapsed in the battle, leaving varying piles of rubble. There was no rescue vehicles, as the inhabitants had already been slaughtered. A trio of military phantom dropships were overhead and a task force had erected a perimeter around as the crews did a full examination of the attack.

He had brought Danny because of his expertise in technology. While Luke and his weapons background would have been a good choice too, Aegis had ventured to his cabin only to be on the receiving ends of boomblasting shooting sounds as Luke was playing whatever latest video game action shooter had just been released. Knocking would not suffice to get his attention, thanks to his amplified custom speakers that were enough to require sophisticated sound suppression devices to not disturb the other crew.

That was probably why Luke's quarters was inconspicuously placed towards the end of the ship.

Aegis hit the ground followed by Danny. The sun had set and the heat of the day started to dissipate, replaced by a chill that crept up on them. Both men were wearing jackets and cargo pants with ball caps.

A SASE peacekeeper greeted them and led them to one of the gold armored commanders who began to show them the way. Around Vaal, Danny was his usual self, but with stranger sangheili, he was beginning to show signs of nervousness. The fact that the commander kept his right hand within a quick grabbing distance of the energy sword hilt did nothing to ease him.

"The human tech was located at the bridge and I believe it served as a visual aid to the raiders."

"I brought one of my tech experts for examination." Aegis motioned to Danny, who followed the commander closely inside.

The lich had crashed at a forty five degree angle with its long rear fins sticking up over a couple of the marketplace buildings. Sparks danced from the machinery overhead, providing a ghostly flash of light every time one of them had struck out.

The commander snapped on a pair of mounted lights on his helmet and stepped back as Danny slipped a headlamp on his head to power it on. Spacing was narrow at such an awkward angle so he had to squat down to look at the basic outline.

Bridge consoles for controlling the lich were similar to the pelican and phantom with all pertaining to navigation, engines and other features of the giant aircraft all in one section.

However the human manufactured device was set at the aircraft's roof. Danny eased himself over the thick panel that acted as the windshield as his hands outstretched to grab hold of it.

He pursed his lips as he bent over, examining from every angle. The thing was box shaped and obsidian, with clean mounts on the roof. However it had no external wiring and the front had a circular opening that gave way to a shutter.

"Commander, this is an optical camera."

Mounted frequently on drones, optical cameras provided guidance, targeting and surveillance that reported back to a battlenet or a mothership where personnel controlling or surveying could share in the images. Drones made for unmanned fighters without having to risk the life of a pilot were useful and highly reliable, being able to eliminate human error. However they lacked one's judgment and logic, as well as being more expensive.

Brutes having optical cameras meant that they had either stole it from humans or they were given it.

"Giving the condition and the relative material quality, I estimate this optical camera to have been made less than a year ago." Danny looked around for a place to cut, "I can't really say much here since I don't have a lot of my tools with me, but if we can carry it back to the _Ballista_, me and Luke can take a more detailed look inside."

Trip nodded his approval, "It's up to the commander here," He gestured to the sangheili, who was still wordlessly watching them talk with curiosity, "They have jurisdiction of evidence on their conflict site."

"Take whatever you need."

With the aid of two more peacekeepers, Aegis and Danny had cut the camera free and together they hefted it back to their phantom. The machine had to weigh at least two hundred and fifty pounds.

Once they were both onboard, Trip climbed into the pilot's seat and fired up the engines, speaking to the controller in New Thansan about his flight request. It wasn't long before they were airborne and headed back to the _Ballista_.

"I wonder what this optical camera is doing on a brute ship, specifically one with ideals that do not accept change." Danny wondered aloud. Many times he had his curious nature come out in a verbal way.

"I don't have the slightest idea." Aegis replied, "But if we make a connection, we might just find out what we're dealing with here."

* * *

**The next lead to solving will take them to a familiar colony world. Any guesses?**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	10. Chasseur II

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_

**November 3, 2558**

Both Danny Tyler and Luke Riley had their heads down on their worktable when Aegis walked in. On both of their sides were notepads of jotted notes in a seemingly random order along with tools and empty cans of energy drinks.

He took a moment to study the scene. The optical camera lay cut open in the center, revealing sophisticated wiring that housed the mechanics of the camera at the front. In the back were database processors and storage systems.

Ironically the camera was probably about two fifths of the entire object's weight.

He set down a cup of coffee by Danny and popped open a can of energy drink next to Luke. The fizzing sound had woken the latter up.

"Commander?" He sleepily mused.

Aegis gave him a shake on the shoulder, "Hey sweetheart," He said in a sarcastic tone, "Did you have a nice nap."

"Yeah funny." At that moment, Danny had stirred and rubbed his eyes. His mouth formed a long oval as the yawn seemed to knock back the last temptations of sleep.

"Morning."

"It's morning?" Danny suddenly went wide-eyed. Both him and Luke had worked though the night and had just put their heads down for a brief time to rest. They had both slept for more than six hours.

"This is worse than a hangover." Tyler rubbed his temples, "Please tell me you brought some painkillers."

Aegis set a small bottle in the center. He got an appreciative grin from both boys as they poured one into their hands and knocked it back with a mouthful of drink. Aegis was never one for the limey and lemon taste of the Charger Tea/Energy drink hybrid. The lime flavor reminded him too much of the surfactant used in cryo to replenish nutrients while in the "freezer"

"Either of you need breakfast before we begin?"

"Nah." Riley shook his head.

Danny finally seemed more awake after halfway through his coffee and he rubbed stubble on his chin. "We finally managed to thoroughly examine the optical camera. Took us several hours."

"Evidently." Aegis gestured to the device for them to continue.

"After we took the three sections apart we ran the serial number of the unit against its manufacturer and we quickly got a match. The optical camera is manufactured by Chasseur Dynamics along with the processor and database storage. This particular unit came from the company's plant in Ville de Lombard, in New Corsica."

Luke nodded, "I've never heard of Chasseur Dynamics before."

"I have." Aegis affirmed, "Chasseur makes a lot of artificial intelligence related products and aircraft instruments. Yeah, you've probably never heard of them because they are not for commercial sale. The head of the company is extremely young but he has already set the business to strictly government, military and intelligence bodies."

"So then what's one of these top-secret cameras doing in a brute raider lich?"

"That's what I want you to find out. Look up its serial number and determine everything you need to know about it."

"We tried breaking into their website and looking up specific unit dossiers, but their security is tight. Very tight."

"It's not all bad news." Danny held up a laptop, "I managed to narrow down serial numbers and it is patterned with two others assigned by a Louis Steele, who apparently is a resource manager and high employee of Chasseur."

"The fact that it's going right under the founder's nose that known dangerous organizations are getting ahold of this stuff means that either he didn't notice, didn't care or deliberately allowed it. It's a start for sure."

He turned to Luke, "Got an address?"

"Yeah, Louis Steele lives in Alto Valeur. I'm sending you an address."

"Okay." Aegis said, "Get me everything you can about this guy. Danny, book me on a flight from Mastema to Alto Valeur." If he was selling this equipment to aggressive brutes, then who knew what else he was giving to the UNSC's enemies.

"We're on it."

* * *

**Alto Valeur, New Corsica, Ensee System**

Aegis watched out the window as the jumbo jet eased over the concrete runway before gently jolting down, causing the spoilers and reverse thrusters to activate and roll it to a stop.

He had taken a flight from Mastema to Cravate, the colony's capital before a second six and a half hour flight that took him a fourth of the way around the world to the city that was home to one point three million people.

Despite the city's smaller population, most tourist enthusiastic people have already heard or been to the city of Alto Valeur. A translation of high valor, it had a diverse cultural center, warm tropical climate, oceanic abundance and coastal beaches made it one of the most popular getaway destinations throughout the UEG colony network. The military also had a strong standing here, specifically the Navy and Spartan branches. The 37th Special Shock Division had established Alto Valeur as its new secondary headquarters and the city was home to many Spartans in the unit and their families.

It was located on the continent of Ru as the mass' largest city at the southeastern tip that jutted out in a peninsula that curved westward. To its south were the azure warm waters of the Kadar Ocean that stretched for thousands of miles away from the nearest landmass. To the north were tall towering Jagged Mountains that made ground travel very difficult. A pair of highways ran east and west that would eventually connect to other cities, but most traffic came through by either air or water. It was a faster method anyway, as the city was fairly isolated from the rest of New Corsica. The closest settlement of Casalta with nine hundred thousand population was more than a thousand miles away and on the neighboring continent of Zuani.

The place appealed to just about everyone. People who wanted to be on the beach had dozens of public beaches that lined its south and eastern sections. Those who wanted to ski, snowboard or head into the mountains could get a car and drive an hour northwest to peaks that rivaled the Rockies and Alps on Earth.

Twenty minutes after stepping off, he was easily through customs by one of his false identities and rented a black SUV from a reservation that Luke had set him up with.

Alto Valeur had seven primary sub-cities that comprised of the main metro area. Steele lived in the Sonoma sub-city, close to the military district at the far southeast and a lot of the wealthy, high-end homes were developing nearby with plenty of land at the side. The day's traffic was moderate and the closer he got to the congregation of unique architectural shaped skyscrapers downtown, the more congested it became. He could easily breathe a sigh of relief though, the wait was hardly five minutes of crawling before the cars around began to pick up speed once more.

He contemplated living here once his retirement was in order or he had to slip off the grid.

The exit to Sonoma quickly came into view and he took an offramp down. Nearby, he could see a large control tower that signified the location of the UNSC base to his left. Large square Navy aircraft hangars were neatly lined up in a row across the runway. Just as he turned onto another residential street, he saw a pair of pelican dropships take off into the sky.

Ten minutes later, he had found the house number. Parking his car just half a block away, he began to study the target house. He immediately calculated his best approach would be from in between the narrow sidewalk that divided Steele's and the adjacent house.

He spent a while examining traffic patterns while munching on a pastry he bought at a bakery nearby. Since the time it took for a car to usually back out of its garage and traverse their large courtyards until they were actually onto the main street took a while, he averaged and judged that he had about two minutes to successfully get over the fence if a neighbor was about to leave.

Patting the holstered Acheron A9 personal defense pistol, he exited the car and walked inconspicuously on the road before veering to his right and down the sidewalk.

Looking back, as far as he could tell, nobody was even in sight and thus had any knowledge about his presence. The sun shone brightly and a couple of birds were singing their daily routine.

The fence was easily cleared by him and he landed in the soft grass on the other side. His shoes made a soft squeak as they impacted the green blades; they had just been watered recently.

Easing his way to the back of the house, he spotted the place having three stories and two leveled deck with a wooden staircase that allowed those on the back lawn to be able to go up and down from the structure. Overall, the house must've cost at least six million credits and was definitely not a typical house that a resource manager lived in. Unless he had some high connections in Chasseur.

Security had all entrances locked down tight; however both Danny and Luke had devised a special scrambler of their own design that would interfere with an electronic lock of a house-sized facility. It would integrate itself with the system and continue to send out an all-clear. The battery only lasted for about twenty minutes, so time was essential before it died and the security system automatically called the police.

This little scrambler device was about the size of his thumb and it was able to keep an alarm silent, even if a door had been opened. Luke had nicknamed it the Burglar Chip, due to its size and use of its function.

Slipping the Burglar Chip into place, he waited until the thin light line turned green before setting his timer to twenty minutes.

Normally he would have already visited any nearby security companies by now, but curiosity had gotten the better with him. Besides, most residences in Alto Valeur had hardware locks. The wealthier and public facilities all had higher grade security.

Inside, the atrium was a rich cream color with a staircase that spiraled upward and a wall that covered its descending steps. To its right was another space that contained a piano and the soft trickling of water that was a seventy gallon saltwater fish tank.

To his left was an office, consisting of an ornate desk with two brown wooden file cabinets. The sleek gray portable computer in the center looked heavily contrasting to the era that the décor was made.

Searching for data transfers that referred to the cameras, a soft sound from outside stopped him.

"Louis Steele!" A masculine voice said from the other side of the desk.

For a second, Aegis' heart threatened to hammer through his chest. Heat began to rise in his limbs as his mind raced to figure out how he had been caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

Sliding his gun out of his holster, he raised his left hand in compliance.

"Put your hands where I can see them." The man demanded.

The quote was often said due to the other having a gun. Aegis knew by the tone and the tension in the air that he was indeed armed. Not looking up at the stranger, he whipped the A9 into his hands and leveled it squarely at the opponent standing in the hall.

He was surprised that neither of them had fired a shot yet, however the other man was already quite livid at the sight of the other weapon.

"Drop your weapon!"

"No," Aegis shot back, "You drop your weapon!"

"Mr. Steele, I'm not going to ask again!"

"I'm not Louis Steele! Now who are you?"

"You first."

Trip sighed, "My name is Commander Trip Aegis,"

"Military?"

"Ex-military," He was getting tired of playing cat and mouse with this guy. Despite that, both men kept their pistols trained on one another, "I didn't get your name."

"Captain Drake Avant. Alto Valeur Police ESPU."

The mention of police didn't lower his guard, but it still had piqued his curiosity, seeing how he greeted who he supposed was Louis Steele meant that he wasn't here to give him a key to the city.

"Can we put our guns down now?"

Avant said nothing, but he lowered so that it was no longer pointed straight at him. Aegis' heart finally stopped pounding so hard and he slipped his own pistol into its holster.

The Captain still had kept ahold of his pistol, also an A9. Trip gave him points for always being wary, goading him into a trap. "I'll put my weapon away once you've told me what you are doing breaking into Steele's home." He eyed Trip's hand subtly drifting back to the holstered weapon, "Go ahead and try it. You'll have a bullet through your shoulder before you can even aim."

"I am investigating a connection that Louis Steele might have from selling Chasseur equipment to brute tribes raiding elite settlements."

"Go on."

"We came across a brute raider group that were attacking an elite village in Eudemon. Upon shooting down one of their aircraft, we found human tech integrated into their systems to bolster their capabilities. The unit recovered was overseen through its development and sale by Louis Steele."

"Interesting." The Captain finally felt that Aegis was not an immediate threat and slipped his own sidearm away.

Aegis finally got a good look at Avant. He was a little shorter than the Commander himself with short black hair and was beginning to show signs of a five o clock shadow. His eyes were colored dark brown, although they carried a commanding, piercing aura to them. His overall expression was calm, but Trip could see that he was ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

He was dressed in a blue shirt and brown cargo shorts, both doing little to hide his well-muscular body. Aegis could see bits of tattoos just escaping the edges of his pant and shirt sleeves. More artwork was also partially visible at the back. The only sign he was with law enforcement was a badge hanging out of his left pocket. He was right handed, so the holstered gun was on the appropriate side.

Right away, Aegis thought he was impersonating a policeman, since he was dressed abnormally for an officer of law enforcement.

"By the greeting you sent me, it seems like you are after Mr. Steele as well."

"The information you just provided me indicates that the two of us are on the same path and are after the same person. I might hold information you might need and vice versa. Perhaps we can work together on this."

Aegis scoffed, "So what, are we pals now?"

"I'm willing to work with anyone if they're willing to do the same."

"Fair enough. I'm guessing your lead was the house here?"

Avant nodded.

"Well I will get ahold of my resources and see what else he could have done."

"Hang on," Avant held up a hand as Trip had his chatter out, "This your first time to Alto Valeur?"

"Yeah."

"Chances are you don't know the Alto Valeur that I do. I have cutting edge sources back at my headquarters that are way ahead of the rest of New Corsica. Intel doesn't get any fresher than a local source. Am I right?"

"How do you know I can be trusted?" Aegis asked.

"I haven't confiscated your weapon. Shouldn't that be enough?"

* * *

**So Aegis gets an unexpected ally in his help for tracking down his lead on whatever is happening.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	11. Chasseur III

**AVPD Task Force for Special Operations Headquarters**

**Alto Valeur, New Corsica**

**November 3, 2558**

Aegis had no idea that the police branch of Alto Valeur had established an elite task force dedicated to the protection of the resort city.

The Special projects unit, Joint Enforcement Tactics Specialists were nicknamed the Jets, due to their acronym of their formal designation and their quick response to recent and ongoing crimes, they comprised of four members and held a unique immunization as well as the ability to ignore the law to a degree if it meant continuing to keep the city safe.

Captain Drake Avant was the leader of the four man squad responsible for this task.

The headquarter building was just off road of a main city street with a pleasant view of the ocean. It had much of a utilitarian feel, with the main face being polarized glass and the foundation was dark gray in color. The brightness of the outside contrasted with the more dark appearance of the Jets' HQ building to be definitely an eye catcher. Flanking its left side was a covered parking lot that extended from the side of the main structure.

Aegis followed Avant out of his car into the main atrium, where the pathways separated into a longer hallway, where he had his hands raised and apparently scanned. The security system detected his weapon, but an order from the young Captain had deferred that.

He was also handed a guest badge and allowed deeper inside the facility.

Overall, the building felt modern and contained all the essentials of any special police force. The main meeting area was a large table fit with a holotank computer and a couple of display screens. All on the right side were five desks, all with glass walls that were also soundproof and bulletproof. To the left of the display was a set of lockers with rifles, pistols and shotguns.

"Okay," Avant placed both his hands over the table and leaned over expectantly. "Coffee?"

"One cream, one sugar please." Trip responded.

"You're probably wondering why, I've gone through all this trouble to help you out. You're here because of Louis Steele's allegations of dealing with brutes in terms of Chasseur equipment. It's not a new thing. This is not because I'm looking for friends, but the Secretary of the City has deemed Steele to be a fugitive."

"Why so much hate for the guy?"

"He does more than just deal with guys that have links to terrorist groups for extra money. Louis Steele was allegedly involved romantically with the daughter of one of the Secretary's Cabinet Members. He was convicted, but a lack of evidence made him walk. However, the Secretary told me to keep an eye on him, so I check back every now and then."

"This sounds like old news." Aegis sipped.

"It is," Avant replied, "Soleil?"

"Yes Captain?" A silky female voice drifted from the speakers. On the holotank, a slim female avatar materialized to stand on the glass. She wore a sleek blue suit that hugged her body and a cyclist helmet. On her back was a large hiking backpack. She had raven black hair that appeared a bit grayish in the light.

"Get me our progress on Louis Steele."

"Of course Captain," Moments later the screens winked on with the dossier of a middle-aged man. "I sense another presence," She turned to Trip, "You give off a similar vibe to my Captain here. Normally, I would be on such high alert to an unfamiliar presence, but I am calmed instead."

"Commander, meet Soleil. She is the Jets' AI attache and relays to us intelligence and updates while we are on the field. Soleil, this is Commander Trip Aegis of the Strike Blades."

"Ah yes," She purred, "The ones who had overthrown Renaud and his banks two months ago. What a pleasure it is to meet you. Your CSV has quite a bit of black ink. At least the ONI parts, the UNSC ones though are equally as decorate as Captain Avant's. Quite a shame you did not take part in the colony's liberation from the radicals." Turning back to the Captain, Soleil gave a curt bow, "Steele's licensed car has last been spotted one minute and fifty two seconds ago at an automotive shop west of Stockton Street. The vehicle's model or license has not been seen since."

"Either he really loves cars or he's switching out for a getaway vehicle."

"Hang on," Trip pondered, "What about the company he works for?"

"Chasseur?" Soleil asked, "Chasseur is a software firm that specializes in the creation of artificial intelligences and electronics for both civilian and war machines. It was founded four years ago by a former ONI Agent and quickly grew in net worth to be one of the best software firms. Currently, their project is aiming towards making affordable micro AIs that assist in driving to nullify the cause of accidents." She paused, "Quite the noble company. They say that the system can be implemented as soon as late of next year."

"Back on Louis Steele," Avant said, "He still there?"

"I have not seen his signature leave the shop. So as far as I know, he is still there."

Aegis had finished his coffee, "Shall we?"

* * *

They drove west, towards more of the lower income districts at the west left section of the city. Every large area had its fair share of a bit more shady areas and Alto Valeur's comprised of the majority of a couple of sub-cities in its southwest corner. Overall, the city was relatively safe, but bad things could happen in any metro area to the unwary.

Safer areas, particularly the tourist parts were at the south and all around the east coast. Up west were parts of the city that most foreigners rarely ever ventured, unless they got wayward.

The Jets had done a couple of busts for trafficking of money in this particular block. Here, everyone had sort of a sub-ethic. Everyone minded their own business and there was no trouble.

Police patrols were frequent and most of the time, it was rare for crime to happen without the police finally catching the bad guy. AVPD was known for being highly effective at this for the longest time.

Aegis' stomach was beginning to knot itself as they pulled up next to Steele's registered car. Both him and Avant headed to the entrance and tried the door. It was locked.

"I got a pick here." Trip was reaching into his pocket.

"This is the old part of the city," Avant shot back, "He already knows we're coming."

Rearing back his foot and leaning his weight onto the strike, the Captain kicked open the door that destroyed the bolt. Aegis was right behind him, both men with pistols drawn. Nobody bothered to answer and they locked the door. Something was being hid here.

Immediately after entering, both men quickly cleared the lobby as smoothly and professionally as if they had been on the same team for years. They then moved to the shop area, where eight slots could hold cars to be repaired.

Several men were standing in the center, all wearing rugged looking clothes and they turned at sensing the new presences in the room. One man behind the four struck out as odd.

Louis Steele.

It was definitely out of the ordinary when someone with a million credit house came to a rundown automobile mechanic shop, but it was even more odd that the four men that accompanied him had looked at Aegis and Avant as if they were intruders and were here to see something they shouldn't.

Well, they did kick down the shop's front door.

"Jet Agent!" Avant called out, "Hands on your head!"

Rather than follow his instructions, all four men had drawn compact pistols.

"Gun!" Aegis shouted, just as the snapping sounds of gunshots began to echo through the room. Both men quickly grabbed cover behind a pickup truck and leaned out whenever possible to return fire. Leaning out from his angle, he saw that three of the men had taken cover behind a mechanic workshop and the fourth was still in the open.

Trip didn't let him make any decisions and put three bullets in his chest.

Close by, Avant saw Steele make a run out of the shop's rear entrance.

"Steele's running!" He shouted over to Aegis, "Give me some cover!"

"Seriously?" Came the response, "You're going to get shot up!"

Still, he popped out of cover and made a mad dash for the next car across the garage. Two of the enemies saw him moving and took the opportunity to shoot.

Trip gripped his weapon with both hands, easily countering the handgun's kick as he strafed to his right. On time, he had just ducked behind the vehicle as he discharged the last shot. Only with two clips of ammunition left, he ejected the spent one before sliding the full home and racking the slide to resume distracting.

Avant had taken the far left end of the garage since there was a large black truck blocking their view of the duo when they had walked in. So unless they were watching him too, their attention was solely focused on Aegis, who had broken cover and masked the Jet's approach.

There was no way he could be able to sneak past them to the door Steele had escaped through without alerting the three thugs pinning Aegis down.

While they were firing, one of them was still scanning for Avant, since he had not shown himself for quite awhile and was expectant for a flanking attack.

Avant was flanking them, but not in the way they would expect.

A blur of motion had caught the man's attention as Drake suddenly kicked the car's driver door open. The force hitting had knocked the thug back onto the next car, taking him out cold.

Wasting no time, he had launched himself through the opening and out the door before either surviving gunmen could react.

One of them did and reached the back door as Avant shut and locked it. In frustration, he growled and tried a couple more times, but to no avail. Another idea popped into his head and he had drawn his pistol to aim at the lock.

Unfortunately, he had no idea how horribly exposed he was to the cop's partner.

Aegis' next round bore cleanly into the back of his head and he jerked upon being shot before limply collapsing.

The last gunman emerged from cover, causing Trip to reflexively shoot him. The bullet hit him in his left arm and he let out a painful scream before ducking back. No additional shots were fired and Aegis listened closely, his enhanced senses being able to pick up far more than what an average human was capable of. So far, he hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary.

Keeping his weapon aimed in front, he slowly began to circle around to the side where he had been hiding.

Without warning, a long metal wrench flew out from the side. Aegis was already a bit jumpy and had squeezed off a shot in response.

He missed.

Not missing a beat, the thug had jumped out from his hiding place and swung a second wrench aimed at Trip's stomach. He automatically leaned back, the hard tool missing his midsection by about a foot when he felt a strong hand clamp onto the wrist that held the gun.

Aegis tried muscling back, but the man had the tenacity of a moray eel. Using his other hand, Trip's left was shoved behind his back and he was thrust onto the hood of the car.

His fingers gripped the gun as hard as he could when he felt the thug trying to pry it from his hand, this guy was trying to kill him with A9. Didn't make sense why he just didn't use his own pistol.

Either way, that was not how he was going to go out.

Aegis' head lunged forward, the crown of his skull impacting the man's nose, smashing the soft cartilage and spraying crimson blood everywhere.

His target instantly went lax on his grip, causing the Commander to break free and deliver a powerful side kick to his abdomen that dropped him like a sack.

* * *

The fight that took out the four thugs in the auto shop had lasted maybe about thirty seconds and Steele hadn't gotten too far when Avant began his pursuit.

Nobody was ever really in a rush to get anywhere in the busy Alto Valeur streets so it was pretty easy to find the man sprinting away from him. He had made it across the busy street and headed towards the coastline.

Avant shook his head as he took off after him, wearing a business suit and trying to blend in a crowd of half-nude sunbathers and bikini ladies was an awful option.

At least he was hopeful that it just might work.

Timing was critical as he went straight into the street center and ran parallel. One car just about ran him over had he not leaped into the air, landing on the hood and then clearing it as it had slowed down to avoid splattering him. With that close call, he had finally managed to avoid being roadkill as he got to the sidewalk.

Steele was a full block ahead of him and constantly looking back to see how far his pursuer was. Avant chuckled to himself mentally at seeing this. One of the biggest thing to slow a suspect down fleeing from him was to look back and see the distance between them.

Avant decided to take that advantage away from him.

"Soleil, give me an update at every intersection he crosses."  
"Yes Captain." The crisp reply said in his ear-set.

With that he spotted an alley and went down it.

Steele had checked back another time to see Avant running after him and was very taken aback at how he'd disappeared.

Chances were he hadn't given up the chase, but it revealed that he was well aware that he was constantly looking over his shoulder at him and no longer gave him that luxury.

That also meant that Avant couldn't see him either.

As he crossed the next street and cleared it to the sidewalk, he began to pick up the pace again now fearful that the cop was toying with him.

The Captain now emerged from an alleyway right in front of his path. He appeared so quick that Steele literally ran right into him. Before the impact, he spread his legs out and bent his knees as if getting ready to tackle.

With a grunt, Steele found himself thrown back as he met a parked car just to his left. Avant flipped him over and bonded his hands together with plastiwire.

"You didn't play many chasing games when you were younger, didn't you?"

* * *

"No, I swear that I didn't have anything to do with either of your guys' issues!" Steele cried. He was sitting in the lone chair in the center of the Jets' interrogation room behind a table. Before him, Avant and Aegis prowled around like hungry lions in front.

"So why'd you run?"

"I swear I was set up! My boss told me to meet him at this auto shop and he'd help me get safe passage to Verona Beach!"

Avant leaned down, "You're treading in shark-infested waters here brother. You were seen the night that Estelle Heidi was taken and you yourself were there to escort her from her house in the middle of the night in your car. So I put two and two together and have my suspicions that you kidnapped Miss Heidi. So where are you holding her?"

"I'm not holding her anywhere and I'm not helping either of you."

"I think you will." Aegis finally said. He had not spoken a word since he announced his inquiry about the camera; however Avant was given the helm as bad cop for the time being.

"I want a deal."

"A deal?" Aegis chuckled before gesturing to him, "Captain, you believe this guy? He thinks he still has a card to play."

"Then it's time we show our own hand." Avant pulled the chair from the opposite end and sat down, "Mr. Steele, this is your deal. You tell me first what I want to know and then you talk to Commander Aegis here about what he wants to know and we'll keep our mouths shut."

"What do you mean?" Steele had begun to sweat a little. "Keep your mouths shut?"

"If you don't tell us everything, I'm going to escort you to City Councilman Heidi's house and say that you were solely responsible for the disappearance of his twenty-one year old daughter and it was an act because of greed. Then I'm going to leave you in his care." He paused, "If I were you I'd start talking because even if I don't know the Councilman personally, I'm willing to bet he's going to do something to you that would make castrating look like a bruise."

Steele was about to speak when Avant's comlink began to ring.

Aegis peered over, "Oh look at that. It's the Councilman, probably demanding an answer from you. Better talk now or we're going to hand you over."

"Listen! I swear I had nothing to do with her kidnapping or the camera to those brutes! Look back at the footage, she wasn't even resisting! She wanted to go to meet him! And the cameras were used by my authenticity for an executive sale! The head of Chasseur has access to all the accounts for resource distribution. I gave him permission to use it! The guy you're looking for is the same person for both your cases!"

"Who is him?!" Avant demanded.

"Chancellor! Ethan Hunter Chancellor! The head of Chasseur Dynamics!"

The Captain saw Aegis' breath shorten. He leaned down with his face just inches away from the terrified businessman.

"Did you just say Ethan Hunter Chancellor?"

"Yes!" the ringing had now started to irritate all three men, so Avant picked it up.

Soleil's silky voice drifted from the speaker, "Captain, I just wanted to know that your sandwich order at the Curbside Café is ready to be picked up."

Steele stopped and looked at both men with disbelief in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but couldn't find the words to speak.

"You know this guy?"

"I thought he died."

"Sounds like you and him have quite a history."

"I do." He nodded absentmindedly, " A very personal one."

* * *

**This chapter was supposed to be out a week ago, but I had to do a bit of editing since it never really stuck right with me. Plus, I'm dealing with strep throat and making it painful to talk and work. So I guess I'll be bedridden for the time being.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	12. Chasseur IV

**Chasseur Headquarter Vessel **_**Kanclers**_

**November 3, 2558**

"Navigation, set course for our rendezvous with the raiders. Establish standard security protocol and commence jump when finished."

Ethan Hunter Chancellor did not need a response as the computer system for the _Kanclers_ already begun spooling up and calibrating his command. In less than thirty seconds later, the massive vessel had slipped inside a finely slit hole in the space fabric, seamlessly sliding through.

The _Kanclers_ served dual roles as Chasseur Dynamics' headquarters and Chancellor's personal vessel for transportation and security. She was registered to the Great Lakes Spaceport in the Chicago region, despite never actually being there. The vessel housed more than three hundred personnel of his top staff from caretakers to armed guards.

Chancellor had limited ideas on how to run a company. He had originally wanted to get a degree in business and start from the ground up, but instead found his mark by the Office of Naval Intelligence.

His bank account when they had "terminated" his employment had enough money to begin negotiations to stockpile salvaged weapons in the fallout between the Swords of Sanghelios and the Servants of Abiding Truth.

Thus, his ideas and sufficient funding gave birth to Chasseur Dynamics, starting out in a rented office and marketing small enhancements to micro AIs that were being afforded by more of the wealthy residents and businesses.

_Kanclers_ was actually a retrofitted former RCS-class Covenant Cruiser previously known as _Holy Onslaught_ that had nearly been written off due to her weapon systems experiencing a malfunction sometime during the war. She ended up in the hands of rather ignorant jiralhanae, who had used it for transport, but neglected most of her other systems.

Chancellor hadn't established a permanent headquarters for his company and at the urging of his advisers was in need to do it soon. It became apparent in his eyes that he could bring it wherever he pleased by utilizing a space-borne vessel to act as his head office.

The cruiser belonged to the raiders who had massacred Huifas and they reached a deal with him by his providing resources for fighting to them in exchange for their labor in renovating the _Onslaught_ to his liking.

Agreements were reached in 2554 and it was about to be completed. In 2556, the _Holy Onslaught_ was finally complete to his design and renamed _Kansler_, a rough Latvian translation of his last name. He had sought a former warship due to her armored hull and a sense of protection, knowing that UNSC ship purchases were few and far in between. Originally, he had wanted a Guardian class frigate to serve as his command ship after learning of their rather secretive capabilities, however he wanted to avoid ONI's notice.

When the raiders rendezvoused with him, this would be the final moment they would deal with one another. Afterwards, they would go their separate ways.

What they didn't know was that he had gotten the bigger end of the bargain while merely providing direction to their efforts. He was to take back all his equipment to eliminate any trace of him knowingly providing assistance. These brutes were smart, but he had also manipulated them to provide nearly all the labor to redesign the ship to his liking.

He was in his workshop, a large six hundred square foot area that also was his "think tank". Several large tables had parts of tinkered machinery with several machines that cost several thousand credits to purchase. As much as he enjoyed inventing gadgets First was dealing with these savages and then he would turn his sights on his next target. The Office of Naval Intelligence, dedicating this ship and his new cause into bringing the agency down. The same one that had turned its back on him.

To them, Chancellor was dead. Now, they would be in for a very big surprise.

A soft sound caused him to look up from his latest tinkering and he immediately smiled.

Standing opposite was a gorgeous auburn haired woman with beautiful blue eyes. She had a luscious curvy body and long legs that were enough to make him drool, thanks to the fluffy towel being the only thing covering her cream colored skin.

"Had enough action for one day?" Estelle Heidi asked.

Chancellor shook his head, but still the smile had not faded, "Just finalizing what I'm about to do next, it's been a long day. How was dinner?"

"Fantastic!" She crowed, "Your chef prepares salad and steak perfectly! I must be one lucky lady."

"Well you are a total babe. So I think I am the lucky one here."

"Where should we be this time?" She gave him a seductive smile of his own.

Chancellor caught his breath and pondered, "How about the shower?" When she agreed, he stopped her, "One occasion. You're against the wall."

"Deal." Heidi gave him a lingering kiss before turning around, "Don't keep me waiting for too long."

With that she was gone.

* * *

A few minutes later, he had exited his workshop and strode down the hall to his private quarters. He had removed all the military sections that comprised of the vessel's front, making it his own sanctum. The bedroom was at the center of the front bulbous section of the ship and could be on a raised platform with a spiral path up that could have its occupants sleeping just under a panoramic view of the glittering stars through the polarized screens.

He had first crossed paths with Estelle Heidi when she had come to a party in Alto Valeur that was being hosted by one of the other Councilmen. Although in the presence of her father, Chancellor was unable to start a relationship in his favor. It didn't matter. She had laid such an impression on him and he was so infatuated with her that at one point, getting into her pants was his only obsessive desire.

It had paid off. As soon as they secretly met again over the course of a month, he "consulted" one of his resource managers, Louis Steele to have her meet with him. She had so far been extremely thrilled with it. One was because she was starstruck under the belief that he was the love of her life. The other was that she never had a chance to defy her controlling father and it was the first step.

"Shipmaster, you there?"

"Of course." A deep slightly menacing voice growled from the other end, belonging to none other than Arcc. The _Kansler_'s shipmaster was a former sangheili ranger that sided with the Servants of Abiding Truth due to his deep faith in the forerunners as gods. While he never brought his religious life in the midst of his job, the commander of the ship kept a shrine and had the tendency to disappear for hours inside for meditation whenever the ship was in slipspace. There were times where he would decrease the ship's traveling speed so that the jump would take longer and give him additional time for prayer.

Rather than get captured by the Arbiter and his forces, Arcc had disguised himself as one of them by stripping a dead sangheili soldier of his armor and disappearing. He had fled to the moon of Qikost and kept a low profile until finally managing to find a job in the unusual form of captaining a cruiser that served as a headquarters for a human business.

"Give me an update on Louis Steele."

"One moment." He disconnected and returned about ten seconds later, "Steele was taken captive by Alto Valeur police two hours ago."

"So they took the bait."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Remain on course. Complete our rendezvous with those brutes and I'll fill everyone in on our next move."

"Understood. Unless something pressing is upon us, I will leave you undisturbed until we have exited slipspace and are initiating our rally." With that, the shipmaster severed the line.

Chancellor's private quarters only allowed himself, Heidi, Arcc and about six other individuals access by a biometric scan mounted on the top of the double doors.

The floor was a rich dark wood that paired nicely with the dark gold lighting hanging from the ceiling in neat stainless steel covers. The walls had a couple of expensive paintings that opened up to the main chamber of the bed and its raised platform to the observatory.

He headed left to where the bathroom was located and slid open the glass door. The sound of running water was heard and vapor clouds had rushed out to escape, having been contained earlier.

The large glass shower was blurred to obscure its lone nude occupant. Estelle Heidi ran her hands through her hair when Chancellor had discarded his clothes in a nearby basket and stepped in.

The water cascaded down their bodies as he wrapped his arms around her and gently pinned her to the wall. His hand brushed wet clumped strands of hair out of her face.

"Took you long enough." She playfully teased.

"Business calls. But now, you are all that matters."

Both of them let their hormones take control of their bodies thereafter.

* * *

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_

"Ethan Hunter Chancellor," Aegis began, pulling up the ONI business dossier that was updated by an operative codenamed: Adamant. "A genius in terms of digital processes and heads Chasseur Dynamics in Ankara, Luna. His most notable prototype is a micro car AI system that has a complete zero accident potential."

The main people of his staff were seated at the bridge when he had arrived back. Avant had him booked straight back to Mastema and he wasted no time assembling everyone and going straight to business.

"Okay, he's a young charming business head." Drew almost sarcastically dismissed him, "Why are you so worked up over him?"

"Because, this guy was not just a businessman." Aegis punched in a blurred clearance code and a more classified ONI dossier, this time fully about an operative "Chancellor was an operative in the Office of Naval Intelligence."

"I don't see the connection between him and the village slaughter." Vasili said.

"Look who his supervisor was during his tenure there."

Everyone's heart stopped at the names of all the supervisor signatures on every report detailing the young agent's career from 2550 to 2553.

"You?" All heads turned to Aegis. "You were his supervisor?"

He nodded, "ONI picked up his scent back in late 2549 when he had created a very primitive, but genius burner AI to bypass his academic security servers to steal answers for several final semester tests. He was eventually caught selling them to student body and then sentenced into prison by attempting to murder his older brother and sister by gassing their house with carbon monoxide sometime later."

"So the CEO has a dark history." Drew said.

"Quite. I was the agent that was sent to the prison to get him out as once they had monitored his intelligent prowess and deemed that his compatibility partnership was highest with me. They were too determined to let his skills fall into the hands of their enemies. So when I got there, I gave him a choice, let him continue to rot in the prison or become one of us. He chose rather quickly, but I think that it wasn't just because he had a longtime aspiring dream of being a secret agent. His childhood was full of negligence, an older brother and sister that constantly bullied him and his younger brother. Parents turned a blind eye, unless he wasn't performing up to their expectations."

"Any life is better than prison life. With all that frustration pent up for years," Drew mused, "I could see him finding a way to get at least some sort of retaliation. Troubled kid."

"So you trained him?" Luke asked.

"Every bit. ONI wanted him to be ready to take cases in the field as quickly as possible, so we had made him a junior agent and assigned me as his supervisor. Most of the time we were stationed across the Americas and the Caribbean, tracking down worthless Innies that still wanted to attack the UNSC while it was battling the Covenant."

"Then if he was discharged, why is he sponsoring enemies of both the Swords and UNSC?"

"Chancellor was presumed killed during a top-secret ONI operation in fifty three although there was no solid proof of his death. Apparently he had survived the encounter and is now fighting with a vendetta against the agency and if I have an idea of what he is planning, the results can be disastrous and could possibly lead to a government collapse. I'm willing to bet that the Agency has deduced Chasseur's head with the connection of Chancellor's disappearance, but I'm not sure why they have made a move yet."

"That bad?"

"Yeah."

"That means that Vaal might be in danger. I'm just hopeful he'll make it out in one piece." He paused, "Listen, for nearly four years, I was partnered alongside this kid in some of the craziest cases in my career. The two of us had parted on rough terms, but we also made some notable highlights. Some of them might be foreshadowing of what he is capable of."

"We have time for a story." Danny pressed.

"I'll tell it during dinner."

"Say you said that the two of you had a rough personal history right?" Vasili asked. "How did you end up parting ways anyway?"

Aegis gave a weary sigh, "I put two bullets in his chest."

* * *

**So our dashing Commander has a dark past and now knows he's up against his playboy protege. So, next chapter will be a flashback on one of the most successful ONI-police joint operations the duo had pulled off.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	13. Acapulco I

**Eight miles off the coast of Acapulco, State of Guerrero, Mexico, URNA**

**March 13, 2552**

Located along the coast of southwest Mexico, the thriving city of Acapulco was the second-fastest growing city in the Mexican entity. It enjoyed warm year round climate, long beaches and a major business hub along Mexico's Pacific edge.

The city experiences an enormous boom in the month of March. Known as _Mes Relajante _or month of relaxation, every March nearly a quarter million teenagers and young adults from the American entity visit Acapulco during their school's temporary pause in educational studies. This flood of young adults on their "Spring Break" typically happened in the last week of February through the first week of April.

Acapulco had previously been overshadowed by some of the more popular destinations like Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula and its Pacific rival, Cabo. Since then, the city had steadily upped its reputation over the course of a century and it finally clinched a berth in the top five tourist destinations in the Mexican region.

The main attraction was that one vacationer could dine at eleven to midnight, dance until sunrise and then sleep or relax on the beach during the daytime, with the cycle rinsing and repeating afterwards. Highrise hotels lined the southern end with dozens of its famous nightclubs several blocks behind. The long beaches offered free entertainment accompanied by crowds of hundreds. Beach bars sat at the edge of the sandy shores, offering cool refreshments to sunbathers. In the waves, many surface watersports were enjoyed from surfing to parasailing. Docks at the far ends of the city held massive white cruise ships that visited from November to April.

It wasn't just a popular tourist destination. The UNSC Navy also had a heavy presence in a shipyard four miles down the coastline. Although war vessels could often be seen on the horizon from the city, they descended out over the Pacific Ocean to prevent disturbing the civilian sectors.

Nearby was Fernandez Air Force Base, home to five Shortsword bomber units.

Out at sea, the white and blue yacht steadily cruised along the endless horizon of the ocean. Small waves lapped against her hull and a gentle breeze blew in from the west. She was about eighty-five feet long with a blue and silver trim. The fiberglass hull sliced through the waves as a separate engine compensated for the bobbing about, making the cruise silky smooth.

Cruises on yachts were common in Acapulco with nearly a dozen charter services in the area and groups of Spring Break high school or college students were not a rare occurrence.

Today was no different as the christened _Dynamic _and her crew sailed happily though the sea. Thankfully, no other boats were close by because they probably would have grown annoyed from the catchy pop music playing from the boat's loudspeakers. The boat's bow was a flash of movement from the group of young adults in the center.

Hands were raised high above their heads as laughter and chatter drifted. The boys had only a pair of swim trunks and wore casual shades while the girls wore varying colors of the typical two-piece bikini.

Most of them had a drink of some kind in hand. Froth from the carbon buildup of the beer cans doused everyone.

Up at the helm, a lean man in his early fifties with a gray polo shirt calmly handled all navigation onboard the ship. Next to him was a younger man wearing a plain shirt and blue swim trunks. Both of them gave smiles watching the party and dancing unfold at the ship's helm.

There were a lot of gyrating bodies, men and women simply surrendering to the music's quick beat with shouts of joy, all full of the vibrant, seemingly inexhaustible energy. Months of studying uncomprehending material often incited exaggerated mental breakdowns and required at least some time for leisure. These kids knew how to make the most of it. However it was well known that many students were also known to party hard, regardless of their academic standing.

"Why don't you go down there and enjoy yourself?" The ship's captain suggested to the kid next to him.

"Nah." He shook his head and smiled, "I'd rather help my uncle with the boat."

A cheer took their attention back to the crowd below with one of the boys going into a handstand and walking forward, encouraged by the shouts of everyone around him. He finally lost his balance and stumbled onto his feet, helped by two others.

To the right of their ship, the uncle suddenly spotted four crescents of white foam and a pair of black shapes headed in their direction. Raising his eyebrow in curiosity, he brought a pair of magnifying optics up to his eyes and quickly found what he was looking for.

They were both black Rigid Inflatable Boats or RIBs with flexible hulls to help the boat maintain its impressive speed through powerful waves. Ever since naval warfare had been introduced, the RIB was an effective way to traverse the open seas in a quick manner.

Both were crewed by two men in tanktops and cargo pants. Over their mouths and noses were red scarves and they wore dark sunglasses. However it was what they carried that really spelled trouble.

The automatic weapons they held in their hands meant that they were coming to openly attack the ship. Despite the threat of pirates in these waters, the watchful eyes of the nearby UNSC Navy base had often discouraged such attacks. They were uncommon, but not nonexistent.

Most pirates nowadays deviated a lot from the stereotypical buccaneers that carried long metal swords and commanded enormous wooden ships laden with cannons on either side. Now they typically baited other ships in the area to come to their aid, often masquerading as fisherman or simply someone who had encountered a problem with their boat. They'd then be taken aboard and blow their cover, usually holding their rescue crew under duress.

They often demanded ransoms or simply raided the boat for valuables without hurting anyone, but this group looked like it didn't abide by that. As it approached the starboard side of the boat, the men at the front raised their assault rifles and opened fire.

Those at the front partying were oblivious to the situation, thanks to the loud music. The bullets tore into the upper hull and hit the glass, shattering it into tiny shards.

Both the kid and his uncle shielded themselves from the shower before turning to one another.

Uncle patted his hip, where his nephew could see a handgun holstered, "Get everyone to the back of the boat! Now!"

Before the partygoers down below had figured out what had happened, the pirates had maneuvered their boats beside the yacht and mantled over the rails. One of the pirates shot out both loudspeakers on the boat's side, silencing them.

The kids suddenly stopped, confused.

Another rattle of shots into the sky from another gunman jolted them into panicking. The air was now filled with screams of terror instead of jubilant shouts. There were only two on deck, with the other pair likely securing the RIBs to their yacht.

"Everybody shut the fuck up and move to the edge of the boat now!" When nobody responded, he fired another round of shots into the sky. That got everyone moving again.

With tear-filled eyes and crying for their very lives, they shuffled to the starboard side where the RIBs were tethered. The two pirates kept close by, marshaling the group in that direction.

One of the boys hesitated for a split second, looking back at their assailants. The pirate behind him sensed it and was having none of it. He swung the stock of his assault rifle when the kid turned around again and it collided with his nose. The blow spewed crimson blood all over the deck and he gave a sharp cry in pain, hands reflexively moving up to nurse the wound.

Movement caught his eye and he spun around. A middle-aged man had approached from behind, intending to take him by surprise. He leveled a black pistol aimed squarely at the crook's head.

Before he could get a shot off, the pirate put three rounds from his rifle straight into the man's chest. The bullets tore straight through him and he collapsed to the deck, causing the partygoers to scream in terror. Slowly, blood began to pool around his limp body.

The pirate turned and walked back to join his fellow compatriots.

* * *

**Acapulco International Airport**

The small business jet eased over the airstrip, gradually descending before the wheels kissed the hot concrete runway, leaving behind a small puff of white smoke. The landing had consisted of a slight jolt in the hull before the craft's spoilers and reverse thrusters engaged, slowing it to a taxi speed.

Scurrying past a line of jumbo jets parked at the main terminal, it moved towards an open hangar situated close to the edge of the airfield.

With its sleek design and ONI symbol, it was a no-brainer of who operated the vehicle. The scheme made it have no effort to hide, although the agency was aware of the fact and also ran a fleet of "ghost jets" or similar corporate aircraft that appeared just like the standard ones to the civilian market. Each one cost over 60 million cR.

The fleet was few in number and rarely used, often in favor of commercial travel for convenience. However, it could take as little as two hours for the Naval Intelligence to prep a jet with a set flight plan and approval from the fleet's supervisor.

The aircraft's door opened up and extended down to the apron as the pilot killed power to the engines, causing them to drop in pitch. A staircase was on the doorside as it flipped down, offering a narrow walkway to and from the cabin.

"Oh great!" A voice drifted from inside, "I can already feel the heat from here."

Trip Aegis emerged from the doorway and stepped down, "Yeah, at least it's dry heat. Wait until you go to the Sigma Octanus jungles. Welcome to Mexico."

Ethan Hunter Chancellor was right behind him; arm up in front to shield his eyes from the intense sunlight. Both men wore casual slacks with a belt and white polo shirts. A clip had secured their ONI badges. "Never been to this place. You?"

"Once. I've been to Cabo San Lucas to oversee a safeguarding."

"Can't relax while you're at it boss?" He grinned, "I mean you've got cheap beer, nice beaches and plenty of gorgeous women. What's not to like?"

"As much as I love to relax at times," Aegis looked back over, "We're here to work."

They rented a cab and headed up north, cutting through the city's downtown district. Everywhere, people moved about relaxed and happy. Lining the streets were vendors selling everything, from antiques to snacks. This was the edge of the tourist areas, with the northern area being mostly residential and business.

Aegis thanked their driver, handing over a wad of cRs before he and Chancellor took their leave. The nineteen year old kept pace behind him as they walked down a side path up to a lookout point. The Pacific Ocean stretched before them and the sun was now beginning to set on the horizon.

They approached a lookout point just before the land gave way to the blue sea. Glare from the sun gave it a hot bright appearance, as if it were made from liquid gold.

There were crowds of people lining the side cliffs on observing catwalks to their left. In front of them, Chancellor's mouth opened in surprise and he pointed towards four people on the cliff area. One of them swung her arms forward and disappeared from view.

"Hey," Aegis set a hand on his protégé's shoulder, "Cool it. They're professionals."

"What, did we come to see people jump off a cliff? Entertaining."

"No." A voice said from behind them. Both men turned around.

"Senor Aegis?" The man draped a towel over his shoulders, wiping off droplets of water that clung to his tanned skin. He was about his age and a couple inches shorter with short buzz cut hair and a dark tattoo on his upper chest with cursive writing "La Quebrada"

"That's me." Aegis shook the man's hand, "You must be Detective Javier Lorenzo?"

"Si."

"Speak English?"

Lorenzo grinned, "Two years in California. English classes with the Sacramento State University."

"Good, cause last time my translator burned out and my Spanish is quite rusty. I only got the gist of what you had said."

"Boss, you mind filling me in?" Chancellor asked, an irritated look on his face.

"Sorry about that." He clapped him on the shoulder, "Ethan, this is Detective Javier Lorenzo, a specialist with the Mexican federal police on ransom and kidnappings as well as our ONI liaison contact. He and I spoke on a potential perpetrator coming from Acapulco few years back. Lorenzo, this is my junior agent Ethan Chancellor."

"Pleasure." Javier grinned and shook his hand. "Now you're probably both wondering why you were assigned here?"

"Yeah." Chancellor agreed, "What made people call us in on an op?"

"I'll brief you as we head over there."

"I didn't know you were a diver." Aegis remarked. He was sitting shotgun in Lorenzo's SUV as they loped through the midday traffic on the streets. Ahead of them, the skyline of downtown Acapulco rose up, the windows reflecting a gold glow of the sun's rays.

"I come from a family of divers and we all are part of the La Quebrada group."

"La Quebrada?" Chancellor echoed.

"Yes. Those cliffs you saw back there are called La Quebrada, Spanish for the Gulch. It's been a longstanding attraction of Acapulco. I'm part of a group of professional divers that jump from these eighty foot cliffs."  
"Doesn't sound so special to me." He snorted, but a glare from Aegis silenced any further snide remarks, "Sorry, didn't mean it that way."

"Apology accepted Agent Chancellor. Don't worry; most people are shortsighted about it anyway. I'll be happy to explain. It does look simple, but however timing is everything. I've been diving for nearly ten years now and even I sometimes walk away with bruises or cuts. The depth of the water of where we land is less than thirty feet deep and even shallower depending on the time of day and wave location. A misjudged step could mean serious injuries or even death. I know several people who have jumped from there and never have again."

"Oh." The kid gave a nod of understanding.

"Anyway, about our operation?" Aegis tried to get them back on track, "Isn't this a task for the special police units? Why are us Section Zero Naval Intelligence being assigned to the task?"

"We figured you would be the best assets in the area to figure it out."

"According to the harbormaster," Lorenzo had to yell over the wind and the rumbling engine provided by the Coast Guard's Piranha class boarding craft. "The yacht had left this morning at oh nine hundred hours and its plan detailed it being back at thirteen hundred!"

"When did they notice it missing!?" Chancellor asked.

"About that time we had scheduled your flight from Los Angeles! An airliner leaving the airport to Panama City noticed it while you were en route. The pilot reported no movement and thinks that he saw a body on her deck!"

"Spotted her!" The captain said over the loudspeaker, "On our eleven!"

The yacht was floating freely on the surface as the Piranha approached her port side. She bobbed on the waves and looked as if she was peacefully anchored. There were no signs of a gunfight and Aegis was unable to see any bodies yet. Above them, they saw the dark form of an AV-14 hornet painted in the Mexican Coast Guard, hovering around the area.

The Piranha eased alongside the yacht's deck, slowing down to a mere crawl. Chancellor was first, mantling the safety rail and already scanning the area.

Aegis unholstered his own Acheron Security A9 pistol. The private security manufacturing firm had the A9 series, which was a throwback design towards the older model pistols, having a smaller trigger guard further up the grip and the barrel lengthened on par with its Misriah counterparts. The A9 fired a special personal defense cartridge that performed better against armored targets at distances the M6 series failed. The A9 was a contender in 2555 for being the standard sidearm for the UNSC Air Force, but had fallen through in favor of the M6H due to its cheaper costs.

As Chancellor and Lorenzo searched the back of the ship, Aegis moved inside towards the ship's galley and helm. It rose to give a view of the ocean and whatever happened on the bow. Glass crunched under his feet as he stepped over and noticed that the window screen had shattered, most likely gunfire.

"I found the body." Chancellor called, "There's another one too. Looks like one of the pirates was killed in the attack."

Aegis made his way towards the back, seeing Chancellor and Lorenzo bent over a pair of corpses. One of them was casually dressed, with a hat that had the logo of the yacht's company. The other was masked, wearing a white tank top and brown cargo pants. Both of their victims had three gunshot wounds to their chest.

Chancellor reached over and peeled the mask off the dead pirate. He was handsome, a latino in his late twenties with signs of stubble on his chin.

Aegis studied the face, "This guy looks like he's local."

"And our captain was armed." Chancellor held up a pistol just out of the corpse's hands.

"You'd be dumb not to be, especially in this area."

"I found something." Lorenzo walked into the room and handed Aegis a dropped chatter comms device, "Could be one of our victim's phones."

"Lorenzo, know anything about this guy?" Aegis shook his head towards the deceased.

"Could be the work of the Rojo Punal."

"Maybe." Trip looked back down at the victims, "Those were just petty thieving though and nobody was ever hurt or killed in any of their attacks."

"Not until now." Lorenzo said, "However we have twenty college kids unaccounted for and if the Rojo Punal is responsible, they've seriously taken their competition to a new level."

"We need to get this boat back to the docks and have some of the APD techs process everything we found." Aegis said, "As soon as we find anything, we're going to have to search all of the Rojo Punal's known hideouts."

"Hey boss." Chancellor's voice drifted from the bridge, "I heard movement up here."

Thirty seconds later, Aegis and Lorenzo had joined him up top. Chancellor pointed towards one of the shut doors just behind the controls and had trained his pistol at it.

Aegis signaled him to cover his advance and quietly stepped forward. His glove snaked out and gently turned the handle, easing it open.

Lying in front of him was a boy, who looked back at the three men with an uncertain glance.

* * *

**So this is the first part in a multi-chapter flashback series. Aegis and Chancellor as agents are in the process of the most notable operation in their master/apprentice tenure together. Definitely an insight on how the latter takes after the former huh?**

**Oh and happy Cinco. What better time to put up a chapter set in Mexico than today?**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.**


	14. Acapulco II

**Acapulco, State of Guerrero, Mexico, URNA**

**March 13, 2552**

"Ben, do you recall everything that happened before the pirates had showed up?" Aegis asked, "Any origin of their direction or motives?"

The kid that he had rescued was sitting alongside the docks, looking mournfully at the yacht. He was still in a bit of shock of what had happened. Chancellor learned that his name was Benedicto Reyes, but he must've been more comfortable around the junior agent his age when he asked to be called Benny.

"No, we just moved further out to sea and then the pirates took all the kids away in their boats." He looked down at the waves below again with regret evident in his eyes.

"So how did you manage to get away?"

"When…when the kidnappers began herding everyone onto their boats and my uncle came out to defend them, they shot him up and I…I took that opportunity to get to the bridge and put myself in the closet." He let out a sigh, "Can't believe uncle Marco is dead. This is all my fault."

"Ben," Aegis laid a hand on his shoulder, "Without you, I wouldn't even know where to even start. You did all you could do in a scenario like that."

"I feel so bad after getting uncle killed and being selfish enough to just save myself."

"And you panicked." Chancellor added. Ben just nodded in response, "Hey, that's perfectly normal for a human being."

"Ben, if you can help us, I'd like to identify the weapons our kidnappers used. Do you have a good knowledge on guns?"

Ben shrugged, "Machine guns? I don't know."

Aegis removed his comlink and pulled up a picture gallery, "I'm going to show you some different types of guns, many of which are commonly used by terrorists and criminals. Can you try and identify them by this?"

Ben said nothing as Trip scrolled through multiple weapons. Many of them were considered obsolete today, MA1 carbine, MA3A rifle, the notorious C5 compact submachine gun and the HMG-38.

"That's it right there." He said, almost excitedly, knowing he was doing at least some good in helping their investigation.

Aegis flashed the HMG-38 image to Lorenzo and Chancellor. "HMG 38 high caliber rifles."

Lorenzo snapped his fingers, "The Rojo Punal uses HMG-38s. Lots of them. They stole a black market shipment in Cabo San Lucas two months ago."

"Benny!" A voice shouted, causing the four of them to look over. All along the entrance to the marina were news reporters and their camera teams, all wanting to get a scoop on what was happening. Ben's eyes lit up at the sight of the young man running down the docks to greet him. "Don't worry, that's Carlos. My cousin."

"Lorenzo, keep the media at bay on this. Make sure none of our names are mentioned, especially Ben's. We don't want our kidnappers to know we're onto them."

"You got it."

"You okay Benny?" Carlos grabbed him tightly in a hug as the two let out their stress of the events. When they parted, they both had somber expressions on their faces. "My dad's dead isn't he?"

Ben nodded.

"Thank you so much senor." Carlos smiled sadly at the agents, "You couldn't save my dad, but you still saved cousin Benny here."

"You're welcome." Chancellor returned the smile.

* * *

**Acapulco Police Department Headquarters**

The police had cleared an entire office ward to prepare Aegis and Chancellor's investigation. Lorenzo had pledged their full cooperation since Acapulco was aggressively vying to up its reputation as a safe tourist zone. It wasn't the safest just yet, but they were making steady progress.

"I managed to stabilize some footage that one of the kids was taking while the pirates were boarding." Chancellor held up a data chip, "Quality's kind of bad and both of them that are viewable are wearing masks, so I can't run a facial recognition. They all wielded HMG-38 rifles and had lean athletic builds. I've got their biometric signatures and we can run it if we come across any potential suspects."

"Good stuff." Aegis gave him a slap on the back, causing him to flinch, "What about our victims?"

"The yacht's operator sent back a passenger manifest with twenty kids, including Ben and one adult, who was the captain. All of them were college age from American east coast universities. Combined, they're all from three different schools, but I see no criminal record on any of them or family with such markings."

"So it wasn't a random attack?"

"As far as I can tell. They don't even have speeding tickets."

Lorenzo entered through the doorway, "Listen, I just got off conversation with the North American ONI director. He's putting you and Agent Chancellor to head up this case after receiving calls from parents. Our kids are still alive out there, but they're kidnapped."

"They are demanding a ransom?" Chancellor asked.

"Si. A half hour after the estimated time of the kidnapping, nineteen pairs of parents started getting ransom calls and discovery of their kids being abducted. They all confirmed that they have one son or daughter is vacationing in Acapulco and it all checks out."

"What was the ransom?"

"Five million credits per hostage." Aegis gave a low whistle, "They gave the same ransom amount to each of the parents, so we're totaling up to ninety-five million on the line."

"Are all of these parents rather wealthy people?" Trip asked, "I kind of see a pattern here."

"The director and Agent Morgrave ran checks; they're all worth quite a bit, being real estate developers, bankers, business owners." Lorenzo looked over at the ONI Agents, "You know, high paying stuff."

"They're all quite attractive people too." Chancellor added, "It could also mean that our pirates targeted them to sell to trafficking markets."

"Or they realized they hit the jackpot and found out they could snag bigger ransom than what they estimated."

"Either way, I don't think this was just a random attack." Aegis frowned, "What about the parents of the children?"

"Si." Lorenzo handed him a datapad. On the screen was a list of all nineteen pairs of parents for the kids, "The first couple has just arrived from the airport and the rest are in Los Angeles and en route."

"Okay, I'm going to talk to these parents. Make sure that ONI covers all their expenses, book them all in the Royal Hotel chain Suites, restaurant and amenity bills and give them reimbursements on their airfares. Have grief counselors ready too."

"You got it."

* * *

Aegis knew that this was going to be a long few days in Acapulco and one of the hardest parts of having to deal with such cases were to confront the loved ones.

As usual, the first couple had a daughter out with the others who were kidnapped and they were a complete wreck upon finding out their child was taken against her will. Normally Aegis had couples with kidnapped kids just worried and sad, wanting them back in safe hands, but this couple had completely lost it.

The father produced his personal chatter comm device and handed it over to the ONI agent.

"I recorded our conversation with the kidnappers and gave it to the police." He said, comforting his sobbing wife next to him. Trip had to hand it to the guy for keeping his composure in such a dire situation, unlike his significant other. In his teens, if this happened to him, he had no doubt his late parents would be flipping out just as bad.

"Hello?" The father said in the recorded conversation.

"Yes," The kidnapper's voice was very low and Aegis recognized a sound scrambler to distort the speech to be unidentifiable. "Is this Mister David Weddle?"

"Yes. How did you get this number?"

"You don't say a word unless I say it's okay." The voice threatened, "I have your daughter and you'll do exactly as I say."

"What? What are you saying?"

"You're going to listen to what I have to say very carefully. I want five million credits and you will give me them if you ever hope to see your child alive ever again."

"How do I know if my daughter's alive and if you have her?"

The recording played some shuffling sound before a girl's terrified voice came on, "Daddy? Daddy are you there?"

"Madison!" Aegis' lip ever so slightly curled in a scoff, to be honest; he had expected that to be the name of the man's daughter. Either that or a few others.

"Daddy, I'm scared."

"Madison sweetheart, it's all going to be okay! I promise you."

"There!" The kidnapper's distorted voice came back on the line, "That is enough for proof! Now get me the money or I will kill her and everyone else!" The recording clicked dead.

The father looked over at him with the same amount of pleading in his eyes, "Please Agent. You have to find her. She's our pride and joy."

Aegis nodded, "I will."

* * *

Chancellor headed back into the investigation room with three boxes of a takeout just as the parents left back to their hotel. Aegis and Lorenzo were still scratching their heads over the footage of the single kidnapper.

"Hey Chancellor, I got a job for ya."

"Good." He walked over to set the takeout down, "Locals recommended the fish taco stand down the block. Marvelous stuff."

"Definitely." Lorenzo grinned, "You guys should spend more time in Acapulco on leisure time, not business and it gets even better when the sun goes to the other side."

"What you got?"

"Still no matches on known Rojo Punal suspected pirates and biometric IDs of the kidnappers except for the one we found killed. We might be dealing with newbies."

"Judging by the way they took the boat," Chancellor said, "They looked to be far from inexperienced. They expertly boarded the boat and easily overtook its crew. For the good part, most Rojo Punal pirates do not move this good. My guess is that this is probably not their first time."

"We're missing something."

Ethan's face suddenly lit up, "Oh, what about the guns?"

"Yeah HMG-38s. Popular gun used by terrorists, although pretty much considered outdated by military standards."

"Yeah but Lorenzo, does the Rojo Punal use HMGs as their main weapon?"

"Lots of them on Mexico's east coast, but not so much on the Pacific side." He shook his head, "They used to have a lot of them. Most of the time we encounter them using MA3s. However, we have seen at least two of such weapons in use by the cells in Cancun."

"That's too far away." Chancellor nodded, "Since the MA3 is probably an ideal replacement for the HMG-38, and either we are looking for some new metal they could've acquired or we're not dealing with their work. Now I'm also looking at the boats they used, which doesn't match any colors or model description in any of the city's dock areas. No camera footage of it being towed out either."

"That means that they could be anywhere from in the city to out on a boat."

"Agreed." Lorenzo sipped his drink, "However, the Rojo Punal do find potential recruits into their network through the nightclubs. A lot of estranged teens go through, both local and not and sometimes they take advantage of that."

"What do they get assigned?"

"Mostly as errand boys, delivering contraband to and from their positions. When they work at it for several months, they get a chance to accompany some of the higher members in their more high profile activities. It's hard for the police to keep up with it and this one particular nightclub at the end of the tourist strip has been a hive of activity recently."

"Let's go pay them a visit." Aegis stood up.

* * *

Night had fallen in Mexico and Acapulco's famous nightlife began to stir up as soon as the sun disappeared over the Oceanside.

The dozens of nightclubs had already opened up by six in the evening, allowing the people who had been busy working or sunbathing during the daytime to introduce a different side to themselves. The partying went until the daylight showed itself on the other side of the horizon.

This particular nightclub had seen some footage of Rojo Punal associates inside for some time and without a warrant, police were not allowed to search the place. Lorenzo opted to stay outside in their car to watch for suspicious activity.

ONI Agents? A different story.

Aegis and Chancellor stepped through the automatic doors and were immediately assaulted with a strange odor that was powerful enough to make them gag, Aegis recognized it nevertheless, Sweet Williams cigar. A nice taste and preference for COs, but he didn't smoke. The hallway opened up in front of them to have a high rise ceiling with a second deck.

Pop music blared from loudspeakers as a red headphone donning DJ mixed the beats of whatever newest hit. The entire dance floor was a mass of gyrating bodies grinding against one another with the people's minds in another world, free of care or worry.

"Shit," Chancellor gave a wolfish smile at a blonde haired girl who had seen him wiped some condensation off a beer bottle and swiped a finger down her cleavage in a rather suggestive manner, "Why the hell did we come here for work?"

When Aegis didn't answer he looked on over.

Trip was a few feet in front of him, staring face to face with a burly man that was about his height. While he was lithe and definite, this bouncer was basically a big hunk of solid muscle that would probably bash both of them into a pulp if they crossed the line.

"Listen; from one bouncer to another, I'm here on business with the Office of Naval Intelligence." With that being said, the brute of a man recoiled slightly. Behind his poker façade, Aegis gave a smirk, "You can go ahead and kick us out, but I'll just force my way in regardless."

Knowing he had no choice on this one, he gave a nod and parted ways. There was no doubt the agents would be closely watched while they were inside.

"Wow." Chancellor caught up to Aegis, "I didn't know you used to be a bouncer. You certainly don't look like one."

"I did," Trip confirmed, "Used to work in a Mykonos nightclub after high school to earn money for college. About six months into the job, I had to take out a drunk patron and an ODST recruiter happened to be on leave at the time inside. That's what got me into the ODSTs and eventually the Agency."

"Ah."

"Most of the time bouncers are depicted as brutish guys that are devoid of emotion and doing their jobs as tossing unruly patrons out of the clubs. There are also a handful of smaller less intimidating bouncers too, which I feel to have been a part of. In reality, it's mostly making sure everyone follows regulations and checking identities." Aegis gave a faint smile at the memory.

"Must've been a good time. Plenty of good people to chat with."

"Yeah." Although keeping up in the conversation, Aegis' mind was solely focused on one table. Occupying the cushion seats was a man dressed in a suit with black sunglasses over his eyes. On the table was a glass of amber liquid and ice cubes and he was in the middle of paying attention to two cute girls that sat on either side of him.

"I think we found our man." Chancellor followed his gaze, "See the red tattoo on the left side of his neck?"

"Rojo Punal." Most members usually had a tattoo of a dark red dagger to symbolize their membership. Blood drips could be added beneath the knife to signify their ranking in the terror group.

"Chances are, this guy isn't very high up on the food chain, so this is a make or break situation."

"Worst case scenario?"

"We just started a war with one of the URNA's most dangerous outlaw groups."

"No pressure."

They made their way over to the tables and approached their target. As soon as he locked eyes with him, Aegis flashed his badge, "Trip Aegis, Office of Naval Intelligence."

Without warning, the Punal member sprung to his feet, the motion surprising both Aegis and Chancellor and had zoomed right past them, in an attempt to make an escape.

"We just wanted to talk!" Chancellor exasperated as he and Aegis weaved their way through the dancing crowd as fast as possible. Everyone else around them was either uncaring or too drunk to really know what was going on.

The man had already evaded the pursuing bouncer and probably was getting arrangements for a getaway driver to come rescue him. The last thing Lorenzo wanted was for the entire media to come on the full scope of the case. Such things could seriously damage Acapulco's future as a premier tourist destination.

He didn't even know what he was thinking at the time, but they had to catch this guy and there were little openings between the dancers and their target. So as he ran past one of the bars, he reached out, scooping a beer bottle that felt about half full, much to the drinker's dismay and sidearmed it during the next gap in between dancers. The bottle had just the right amount of liquid to compare it to a rather long cylindrical hand grenade and sailed in between two pairs of grinding couples, impacting directly on his lower back. The bottle shattered, sending razor glass shards and drops of beer everywhere and the blow was enough to send him to the ground. He was down for a second, but it was enough for Aegis and Chancellor to catch up and pin him to the floor.

"Sorry about that." Trip walked over to the man whose beer he had used to take down the Punal man. He handed over a credit note just as Chancellor fitted a pair of handcuffs around the suspect, "Here. Your reimbursement from the Office of Naval Intelligence."

* * *

**Sorry for not posting in a while. I've been busy cleaning out part of my garage since I am having a new car and need the extra space. Very excited to finally have my own ride.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	15. Acapulco III

**Acapulco, State of Guerrero, Mexico, URNA**

**March 13, 2552**

The beer bottle that Aegis used to fell their getaway suspect had shattered upon impact, burying 5 large shards and a dozen smaller ones in his back. He had lost a lot of blood by the time an ambulance had arrived at their scene and he was whisked away.

Six hours later, with his back all bandaged up from surgeons pulling the pieces, he now was sitting in the center of a police interrogation room and already beginning to sweat from nervousness. His fidgety hands and avoiding steady eye contact was a dead giveaway that he was hiding something.

"You kidnapped a bunch of kids on a cruise heading out yesterday." Aegis slowly circled Hector and doing a fairly good job at being intimidating, "Where are they?"

"I told you already." The man gave them an evil stare, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're lying." Chancellor snapped, "I see sweat beading off your head and the air conditioning's running to make this room about sixty seven degrees. You're blinking a lot, avoiding eye contact with us, fidgeting and you're breathing is more unnatural which is all signs that either you are not telling us everything, or you're risking getting elbow deep in shit about something else."

Aegis bent down to look Hector straight in the eye. He didn't even have to try and look intimidating now because the cuffed man was doing his best not recoil from the poisonous stare, "How about we approach this from a different angle." He pulled up the image of the dead pirate, "Recognize this guy?"

Hector's face turned from anger to shock, "No…that's Julio."

"You know this guy?"

"He's my friend's brother."

"So you know who did this?"

Hector scoffed and gave a dangerous smile, "No I don't. If I did, I would've already killed him. Fine…I'll come clean." He now made himself known that he was aware that his innocence was gone, "I rip off people."

That got more of a reaction from the ONI duo. "Oh you think this is funny?" Chancellor challenged, "You enjoy games like these?"

He chuckled, "As a matter of fact pipsqueak I do." Behind Chancellor and despite the drama going on, Aegis held back a laugh; nobody called his junior agent a name and lived to get away with it.

"The last time you saw Julio?"

"The day before yesterday, said he was going into town because someone called him to make a quick cred."

"Who was that someone?"

"I didn't ask."

"Then what was the job?"

"Didn't ask." Hector replied annoyingly, "We get shit like this and don't fuck around asking stupid questions that bite us in the end. Got a problem with it?"

"I do." Aegis snapped, "Nineteen kids are missing and you could hold vital information in securing their release, therefore meaning you are being held responsible regardless if you were involved or not! I don't care anymore what you think if I have problem, I'm gonna make sure you go down for this!"

"What don't ask thing?" Chancellor, "Must be some gang code of silence."

"Fine, you want proof?" Hector asked, "Why don't you go back to the club and ask to search my table? Your police raid certainly didn't tamper with anything and they most likely found a platinum ring next to my drink."

Aegis and Chancellor shared a perplexed glance. After they had taken down Hector, the police had gathered multiple jewelry items found at his table. A couple of class rings, bracelets, diamond necklaces and a platinum wedding ring, just like the crook had said.

Hector gave them a smirk once the realization dawned on the two of them, "There's an engraved message "To my loving wife" on the inside. We stole that from a lost couple on the northeast section early this morning. There is no way other than flying that we can get from there to the place where your kids were taken within that time. None of my associates were there then, so you've got nothing."

* * *

"I ran a biometric scan on Hector and all of his associates. None match." Lorenzo confirmed. "Can we be sure that the Rojo Punal was responsible?"

"Keep on digging." Chancellor said, "There's got to be something."

"Or it does confirm my suspicions that they're not behind this kidnapping. What is the status on all of the parents?"

Lorenzo looked at a datapad, "They are all checked into the Royal Hotel downtown."

"Okay, send officers to gather them in the hotel lobby. They're going to have questions and want to be informed on their rescue, so let's give them some answers."

* * *

The Royal Hotel and suites were a chain of hospitality and luxury resorts all across the Americas, but also among multiple Inner Colonies, offering a combination of comfort and affordability to guests everywhere. They were appealing to audiences of many types and usually appeared close to ports, tourist destinations and financial districts.

Of course, the more wealthy guests could get the Regal suites, rooms on the top floors with excellent views, high grade amenities and priority checking in and out, usually done prior to arrival. These first class rooms typically cost more than the average man would earn to spend freely in three months.

The parents had gathered in one of the larger private lobbies and were talking amongst themselves when Aegis had opened the door and strode in, Lorenzo and Chancellor right behind him.

"Any word from the kidnappers?" A mother immediately had pressed.

"Please! Anything!" Another one was just as desperate.

Aegis held up a hand to stem off any further questions, "Now ladies and gentlemen, I assure you that we will answer all questions you may have. Now my name is Special Agent Trip Aegis, I am with the Office of Naval Intelligence and am currently running the task force behind the case. I understand you have many questions for me and my team and I assure you that I will relay answers to all of you once I get them. However, right now, I need all of you to remain calm as we work this thing out."

An older man with graying hair and dressed in a business suit stepped forward, "Is it true that you have potential suspects in custody?"

"At the moment, we do have people in custody who are potentially involved with the kidnapping, but we can't jump to any conclusions just yet." Chancellor replied.

"So where are our children? If you have convicts where are they?" His wife asked.

"Like I said," Chancellor's tone was as if he was about to snap, "We can't quite jump to conclusions just because we have people."

"They could be dying!" The man protested, "Or dead!" At that statement, most other couples had gasped or murmured, "What else could they be doing to them? They're just kids! So if you don't know where they are or anybody involved, why don't you just let us pay the ransom so we can get them back?"

"That would be a very bad idea." Aegis countered, "A situation with this brevity and tension must be treated with the utmost delicateness. One slip up from any one of us and it will end badly."

"I think you're wrong." He challenged, turning around to the other parents, "These ONI people are just here for the money and to boost their public image." At his allegation, murmurs arose again, "They don't really care about what happens to our kids, so we should just let them have the ransom!"

"Hey!" Chancellor was close to losing it, "Sir, you really believe that we are in this just for money and reputation?"

Nobody decided to respond to that, even when they were talking to a kid that was barely pushing twenty years old.

"Sir," Aegis asked the father who had challenged him, "Mr.?"

"Rainey, Joshua Rainey." He pulled out a mini holo-still image of a young nineteen year old girl with long chestnut hair and shiny gray eyes, "This is my daughter, Dawn."

"Listen, Mr. Rainey, all of you. You can accuse me of taking this case as a way to boost my career and payroll all you want, but that is not my thing. I was assigned to this case because they told me that I was the best shot at getting every victim from this kidnapping back alive. I have personally worked two kidnapping cases while with ONI and have been in many more even before I had joined the agency. I know the feeling of being on the other end of the call. It is absolutely horrific. What I am asking is for you to be strong, for your kids, for your spouses and for yourself. This situation can be resolved peacefully, but only if you all cooperate and let me and my team do our job."

* * *

"What are the odds of us actually getting these kids back?" Lorenzo asked once they had returned to their office. Aegis had immediately put his face in his hands, already exhausted from the pressure that had been put on his shoulders.

"What do we do now?" Chancellor looked puzzled, "We're back to square one."

Night was upon them again and it was just another fruitless day of trying to find any potential clues of the kidnappers. It was like the entire group had just vanished beyond any possible existence. The thought of losing this battle was quick to approach.

"No we're not." Aegis looked tired, "Go back and check everything these kids have done since they were here. I'm not giving up just yet."

* * *

"Hey." Chancellor called over Lorenzo from his station, "Think I got something."

The Mexican detective came over.

"I was taking another look at the financial records all of our missing kids had done. Hotel rooms, products bought, restaurants. They mostly used one or two different credit chips during their stay here so far. At first, I skimmed through it, but I pointed out one connection. Four of the kids had bought drinks that were drastically lower in price compared to the others during their stay so far and while I thought it was bribery, turns out they were all bought within an hour at that price because a fifth kid had bought one for a more reasonable pricing. Sounds like a happy hour special kind of thing."

"And?"

"The club is Estrella, a high end night-place that is the only place in Mexico that sells the drink that they had bought and it's only available-"

"In the VIP penthouse." Lorenzo finished, "Nice work agent."

"Told you I was a genius."

"It's a start." He fished for his keys, "Definitely worth checking out."

* * *

**A possible lead! Will it be a start to lead onto the missing kids? And Aegis is now seemingly at a bit of odds with some of the worried parents as well!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose!**


	16. Acapulco IV

**Club Estrella, Acapulco, State of Guerrero, Mexico, URNA**

**March 14, 2550**

The stark black and neon purple building called Club Estrella sat just at the Cliffside and offered a wonderful view of the blue ocean that stretched into the horizon.

It was noon and people were already arriving to skip the sunbathing for a hopeful early exclusive permission into the coveted VIP penthouse.

Already it had given a rich vibe where more wealthy tourists could party and show a different side of themselves.

"Fuckin snobs." Chancellor muttered as he and Lorenzo passed by a woman who was showing off her new engagement ring to three others before giggling loudly. "If I were going to a club like this, I'd have my rock solid abs out and be gawking at every lady in a bikini, not marveling at some little piece of gold and diamond that fits on a finger."

Lorenzo had subconsciously looked over at his engagement ring and thought of his wife and newborn son, "It means a lot more when you're married or soon to be."

"Suppose so."

The legal drinking age in the Mexican states was lower than that in the Canadian and American, despite unifying into a single national entity, so it was common to see kids just under the age to vacation in cities like Acapulco to prematurely enjoy the benefits that would be normally restricted in their homeland.

Chancellor found it amusing to see that some of the same people that were partying hard in similar nightclubs were asleep and back at it. Others were nursing hangovers and he had to keep himself from laughing as he saw one kid passed out on a table and two of his buddies had decided to put a pair of little drink umbrellas into his mouth.

The VIP section was blocked off by a very intimidating bouncer, although Chancellor believed that Aegis would easily dispatch him. Flashing their enforcement badges got them access up the stairs behind, much to the dismay of multiple patrons standing at the entrance's sides trying to bribe their way in.

The penthouse was like nothing they had ever seen. A huge dance floor was in front, surrounded by a bar to their left and tables all around. A huge mass of bodies grinding against one another were in the center, moving to the beat of the pop music played by a red mohawk sporting DJ. Strobe lights lit the entire floor hard enough to give just about anyone a headache.

Noon was around the time the drink was sold at happy hour, so they had arrived with plenty of time during an off hour in which they could catch the bartender.

He was a smaller Mexican man with lighter skin and tattoos adorned his body that was loosely covered by a tank top. He looked up at the two agents and immediately frowned.

"Sorry, I need to ID you before serving a drink. How did you even get in the VIP penthouse anyway?"

"Here's my ID." Chancellor flipped the leather cover off his badge before practically thrusting under his nose, "Ethan Hunter Chancellor. Office of Naval Intelligence. I need to speak to the bartender who served drinks yesterday and the day before yesterday."

"Who do you think you are? ONI Agents can't be that young!"

Chancellor smiled, much like the Cheshire Cat, "I do the talking here. Are you the person who served drinks in the club yesterday?"

"No."

"Here's what you're going to do." He produced a small black object and held it just out of view from everyone else, but the bartender saw it, "You're going to call your colleague down here for work because you're feeling ill. You go as far as tipping us off to him, I'll make damn sure you'll regret it."

The bartender nodded and put a mobile chatter to his ear.

Lorenzo had escorted him away and watched as Chancellor eyed another tattooed man in a white tanktop and khaki shorts enter. It baffled him how such a sparsely clothed person was considered standard attire in such a high end club, but whatever.

He sat at the end of a table just by the barstools and had folded his hands together.

"Is it happy hour yet?"

At the sight of the kid and his question, the man suddenly turned and bolted for the door.

"Why do they always run?" Chancellor asked nobody in particular as he and Lorenzo took off after him.

As they descended the steps, the new bartender shoved the bouncer aside and barreled his way through the crowds. Some of them were too drunk or into the music to really care.

Lorenzo had reached the end of the club when he had finally caught up to him, the mass of people had considerably slowed the bartender down, but automatically cleared the way for his pursuit. His bear arms reached out and he let himself fall, the weight of his entire body dragging the other man down.

People gasped at the takedown and he found himself at the center of attention. Just as Chancellor had caught up, from being on his heels to quickly straddle and hold the struggling guy down enough to slip handcuffs over his wrists.

"Let's go and have a little chat." The agent declared as Lorenzo hauled him on his feet.

* * *

"Look I swear I didn't do anything!"

"So why did you run?" Chancellor asked. The two of them were seated opposite one of the tables, with their suspect cuffed to the chair, the current bartender was minding his own business, although he couldn't help but glance over every now and then and the entire VIP club was cleared, save for the four of them.

"You looked a little expectant to see me. So I thought I must be going down for something."

"Damn right you are." Lorenzo snarled.

"Look, I'll say it again, I had nothing on me! I'm not Punal and I have nothing to do with kidnapping any kids."

"Who said we were after missing kids?" Chancellor inquired.

The bartender's mouth hung open in shock, having been caught red-handed. "I…"

The ONI agent leaned forward, "Listen to me very carefully, the punishment for kidnapping is life in prison. However, my friend Lorenzo and I here are in a good mood, so we will make you a deal. You've already spilled details on the fact you're aware of the kidnapping case yesterday. How about you tell me what you know about them and maybe…just maybe, you'll be able to see whatever family and friends you have left before your sixty fifth birthday."

The bartender contemplated this for a minute as Chancellor quickly grew impatient. He balled a fist and was about to give the bastard a good left cross to the cheek when he finally spoke, barely above a whisper.

"There was a man who had ambushed me on my way to work the day before yesterday. He held me at gunpoint and told me to give nineteen passes to the VIP area of the club."

"What did he look like?"

"I don't know! He wore shades and a scarf covered his nose and mouth."

"Short or tall?"

"Tall."

"Hmm." Chancellor drummed his fingers on the table surface, "Fair enough." He stood, "Lorenzo, mind taking care of him?"

"Si senor." He eased the bartender to his feet and they both departed down the stairs.

Chancellor smiled to himself before standing and checking on the bartender that they had first apprehended. He had leaned up against the counter in fatigue and slid his eyes open at the arrival of the newcomer.

"Okay buddy," He said, "Now's your time to shine again. Where's your security camera footage?"

* * *

"I think I just found out one of our kidnappers."

Chancellor waved Aegis and Lorenzo over to the holotank and played the security footage that the bartender had given him.

"We got all nineteen of our kids here drinking and partying." He paused the clip, "But there's this guy." He pointed to a taller, older man sitting at a table near the main bar. As he rewinded the footage, the display showed that his gaze had swept over all of the kids at least once. Only difference was that he had not been wearing a scarf. The shades, however were raised above his eyes. He accelerated the clip and later showed him handing out ticket stubs to some of them.

Chancellor snapped a still of his face before running it through the biometric scan they had taken from the kids' recording of the pirate takeover.

It was a match.

"Holy damn." Aegis breathed. "You're a genius kid."

"I've been called that a lot."

"No ID though," Trip pointed out, "But now we have a face so we can put it on the no-travel list and instructions to detain. Tell all enforcement operatives to approach with caution, as he has been seen armed and aggressive."

"Trip," Lorenzo rushed inside from one of the other offices, "We got something. A security camera just caught footage of our kidnapper. He had parked a car along a street before departing after five minutes. I also received a traceable chatter that belongs to him. It's a burn one, but we confirm that it's last ping was five minutes ago and it hasn't moved for the last three."

The chatter mobile device was considered a basic for the UEG citizen, a small palm sized computer that was usually worn on the wrist, but there were models for fitting on a belt, in a pocket or even as eyewear. For colonial refugees that had fled Covenant ravaged worlds or were unable to afford standard service could obtain cheaper disposable units.

Individual units could be tracked by the Chatter Protocol Authority and it wasn't uncommon to have expert hackers tap into units and listen in, although usually they could only monitor calls.

"Did he drop it?"

Chancellor shook his head, "They're smart in covering their tracks. If they dropped something that can easily be traced, then they intend for us to go after it."

"So that's what we're going to do."

* * *

The trace came to a sandbar next to a fishing wharf about fifteen minutes' drive and quickly found the unit, lying face down in the sand.

However it was what was next to it that had Aegis' attention. The fair skin on her body briefly confused him with the color of the sand, but crimson streaks across her nude front came from a pair of bullet wounds gave it away. Her arms slid sluggishly on the ground. He recognized her instantly from a picture of the kidnapped kids, Dawn Rainey.

"Oh shit! She's alive!"

He and Chancellor were immediately at her side, the latter automatically putting pressure on the twin red stains on her chest.

"Lorenzo! Call an ambulance now!"

She had lapsed into unconsciousness and Aegis felt in front of her nose, there was no exhaling from either her nose or mouth.

"She's not breathing!"

Aegis did what he had to do. Shoving Chancellor aside while ordering him to keep pressure on her wounds, he performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with the utmost zeal. He had done such a process on three others, two of them men and the third a woman and they had all been successful in reviving.

However, Dawn had been beaten, roughed up and shot by her captors, so even as Aegis did his best to re-inflate her lungs and keep her alive, she was fading fast.

The ambulance had arrived as Aegis had lost the pulse, but it didn't stop him from trying. As rather awkward it can be, he continued in attempting to revive a dead body, until certified medical staff could take over.

Aegis had always brought a feeling of confidence in his work, even if everyone else around him had a chip on their shoulder. It was drilled into him that he had to continue to move along until he had clearly failed or completed whatever the task was at hand.

However, now it became evident that the longer they tried to unravel the mystery of the missing kids, the longer and more difficult it appeared to locate them…alive.

The death of one kid not only soured his reputation, but he now knew that the kidnappers were not going to make this easy and something he did had pissed them off.

Or had he?

Confidence shaken, he quietly left the scene, leaving the aftermath in Chancellor and Lorenzo's care.

Trip was later inside the investigation room when his comlink rang. It was an officer from dispatch.

"Senor Aegis, we have a hold on someone who wants to speak to the leader of the kidnapping investigation."

"Officer, run a trace and patch him through." He put the line on speaker.

"Who is this?" A distorted, deep voice asked. Aegis recognized it as a way to mask someone's identity by using digital tech to stop voice recognition. He also remembered it during the ransom message to the Weddles.

"Senior Agent Trip Aegis."

"An ONI Agent?" The other being chuckled, "And I thought the cops weren't much of a challenge."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know what type of game that you're playing around here. Contacting all these people! You think I didn't know these pathetic parents would go to the cops for help?"

This guy had the balls to stand up to the Office of Naval Intelligence. Either he had enough backing to consider himself safe or he was merely trying to rattle Aegis' cage.

"When we said we wanted the money, we meant all of it!"

"All of it?!" Aegis was now even more puzzled.

"I will call you, Agent Aegis in thirty minutes with new terms and I suggest you follow them closely. Don't be stupid with me."

"Wait." He called before the mysterious guy hung up, "You know you didn't have to kill the kid."

Another dark chuckle, "No. I certainly have you fuming in anger correct? It doesn't take a forensic examiner to see what else I've done to her. Let me tell you that she was delicious and it was done mercilessly."

Aegis was very quick to stand up for people who couldn't stand up for themselves and to further antagonize him, one of the kidnapped kids appears on a beach, violated physically, verbally and sexually before being killed. Something like this is what set off a white hot fury that coursed through his veins and only would be satisfied with the corpses of those responsible.

This guy was going to rot in hell for what he did to her. He never knew Dawn Rainey personally, but nobody should ever go through what she had to.

"Not only did you kill her, but you beat and raped her before dumping the body for me to find. You wanted to get my attention, now you've got it. Just so you know; I will find you. There are less and less places for you to hide unless you end this now."

The other person scoffed, "I wouldn't say that. Thirty minutes. In thirty minutes, I am going to call you back and give you specific instructions. You don't do as I say, then you'll have another one, in even worse condition than what you found." The line clicked dead.

He had a nagging suspicion that his instructions to the parents when they had congregated in the hotel had not completely been followed. His advice on letting him handle the case must've been ignored by the Rainey's, as it was their daughter who had paid the price for their incompetence.

* * *

Aegis rapped his knuckles three times on the door that the Rainey's were staying at. He was dressed in a tactical vest with the ONI uniform underneath. A pair of sunglasses were atop his head as he placed a hand over his mouth, contemplating on how he was going to deliver the heartbreaking news.

"Dawn!" The mother opened the door with a hopeful look on her face. Quickly, her expression changed from shock to revelation as it was not her daughter who had knocked.

"Agent Aegis?" She breathed, "Dawn?"

He saw Joshua Rainey come to her side, his own face just as shocked and aghast.

"Dawn's dead…Isn't she?"

"I'm very sorry for your loss." Trip bowed his head.

Immediately Mrs. Rainey turned towards her husband with a death glare. Now he was aware that it was Mr. Rainey who had disregarded what he had said earlier.

"JOSHUA!" She spat with fury, "She's dead! You did this!" As much as she wanted to physically attack her husband, the grief and sorrow had gotten the better of her and she had simply flung herself into her husband's waiting arms. He let them weep together for a few moments before clearing his throat to get their attention.

"Mr. Rainey." Aegis continued, "Can I have a word?"

He had let go of his wife and nodded, continuing to wipe tears onto his sleeve.

Trip led him outside into the hallway down a little bit before standing as tall as possible. As much as he wanted to put a hook into this dumbass' jaw, he kept it to himself. "Mr. Rainey. I explicitly told all of you to let us handle the case. Truly, I am sorry for the loss of your daughter, but you must have done something that had caused her death."

He nodded, continuing to sniff, "About twenty minutes after you had left, the kidnappers had contacted us to see if we had the money. Many other parents had believed that you would be able to handle this. I just wanted Dawn to be back safe and sound."

"What did you do?"

"I put one million credits inside a bag and contacted them. They told me to drop it off at an intersection to the highway. I thought that maybe, just maybe if they had some credits, at least Dawn would be able to be free."

Aegis had given the instructions not because he was being strict and a know-it-all, but he was aware of the scenarios that could happen and had given the speech to avoid the situation he was currently presenting to Rainey.

"Oh God, what have I done?"

Without another word, Aegis placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and exited the hotel.

* * *

**See what happens when you don't listen to Trip?! He knows what he's doing...usually.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	17. Acapulco V

**Acapulco, State of Guerrero, Mexico, URNA**

**March 14, 2550**

"The site where Joshua Rainey had dropped off the credits is likely not where the kids were being held." Chancellor began, "The point is likely a place where they had just drove by, grabbed the pack and then merged with the rest of the city seamlessly."

"And not one time did this guy even inquire about it!" Aegis threw his arms up in the air, "Did he really think the kidnappers were stupid enough to bring him to the same place they were held!"

"Think about it." Lorenzo said, "Can't really blame a parent for doing just about anything for their kid."

"If it was me, I'd put a tracker inside." Chancellor murmured.

"First thing the kidnappers would do after getting the money is to see if it had been bugged or tracked."

"When are the kidnappers supposed to call back?" Lorenzo asked.

The comlink rang, "Right about now." Aegis moved to answer it as Chancellor began to run a trace on the other line's origin.

"Agent Aegis," The distorted voice came back smugly, "Are you ready for your new orders?"

"If you think ordering an ONI Agent around is fun, I'd reconsider what you find to be recreational."

"Don't flatter yourself. Now, I want all the money delivered to us and then make sure we have a private aircraft at the airport that is untraceable, fully fueled and ready to leave. When we are all aboard, we will give the location of the hostages."

"Fine, have it your way. I'll walk it in."

"You?" The voice chuckled again, "I don't think so. I am not having any cops or ONI agents walk in. If they do, then people will die."

"Okay then." Aegis began to grow a little frustrated. In the corner of his eye, Chancellor gave a shake of his head to tell that the trace had failed. "That leaves civilians and I can't allow them to go inside."

"This is not up for compromise! You're wasting time! Fine…the person who will deliver the credits will be the kid who got away from us."

Snapping his fingers at Lorenzo, the latter had left to find the article of the rescue. The kid they had spoken to after finding him hiding in a closet was the delivery person who the kidnappers had wanted.

"You want a kid to deliver you the credits? I can't do that."

"Agent, you don't have a choice. I'm calling back in twenty minutes and you better have everything ready." The line went dead.

"Damn it." Chancellor snapped, "Even with my encryption skills, I still can't crack the traced location."

"Another time." Aegis looked to Lorenzo, "Detective, get ahold of this kid and tell him we need his help."

* * *

Benedicto Reyes had arrived shortly after the parents had all dropped by to give their donations of ransom money.

"Benny," Aegis began, "By any means, you do not have to do anything I am about to tell you."

"Is this about the kids?" He timidly asked.

"Yes. Their kidnappers have made contact with us and are offering their freedom in exchange for money and safe passage out of the city."

"So why am I here?" He looked around uncertainly.

"The person I spoke to had referred to you as the one they want to deliver their ransom. I don't know why, but they might have picked someone that they know isn't part of the investigation as well as someone we know. I'm aware that this is hard for you since your uncle had died, but we have no other option to do this."

"I don't know."

"Hey." Aegis patted his shoulder, "I'll be right by you if it goes south okay?"

"Okay." Benny took a deep breath, "I'll do it."

Aegis nodded just as his comlink rang with the kidnappers' promise of calling back. He answered on the second ring.

"I've got the money."

"Very good Agent. I'm sending you an address on the message list, when you get to this location, you'll find a garage at the end of the storage compound. Have the kid walk it in and then give us clearance to the airport. Once we have left inside a plane that is flying, I'll honor my end of the agreement and move the hostages to a second location that I will send you the address to."

"I can't let the kid walk in on his own. Let me be beside him to make sure everything transpires fine. I'll come unarmed and untraced."

"Not a deal. I know your tricks. You have no choice. If I sense a trap or any tries to come in by force, I'll start executing your kids. Benny will be doing this exchange and he will come in alone! You have thirty minutes."

"Fine. Have it your way." Aegis relented before snapping off the comlink. "Alright. Let's load up and roll."

* * *

**Site of Exchange**

The sun shining brilliantly over the sky caused Acapulco's hot spring temperature to quickly climb up from a little bit of a chilly morning.

Aegis loved to be in the warm sun and he already began to sweat slightly and it wasn't just from the black ONI bulletproof armor vest that he was wearing. Stitched on the chest was his name capitalized in white letters.

Himself, Chancellor, Lorenzo and four other members of Acapulco's Federal Police branch carried BR55 HB battle rifles. Outfitted in tactical armor, they were set to be ranged backup with authorization from the head of the FP to kill the tangos, if the deal did not work out.

"Okay," Aegis waved everyone ever as Benny got ready to deliver the money. The credit bundles were all placed inside a red backpack. "Here's the plan."

Benny watched them converse amongst themselves before they relaxed and checked their gear. One of them was using a thermal scanner atop his weapon to spot the hostiles.

"Senor Aegis." He said, "Four hostiles located and multiple heat signatures inside a shipping container. I believe they may be the hostages."

"Okay." The tall agent gave Benny a thumbs up, "You ready to go?"

"You're going to kill them?" His eyes widened with fear at the thought.

"Only if this doesn't go as planned or if we need to strike quickly. Don't worry," He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny comms set, "We have a receiving node inside your pack, so we can have ears on the exchange." He gave Benny a reassuring look, "You said you had done everything wrong that put those kids in this situation." His hand patted him on the shoulder, "You do this, you can make it right."

Chancellor nodded at him trying to ease the stress too, "My senior agent doesn't give compliments lightly."

"Well thanks. Here we go." The kid nodded before moving to the door and gently easing it open. Looking back, he saw the young agent giving him a thumbs up, which seemed to give him enough courage to walk inside. All they could do was sit and wait.

Benny noticed the four armed masked men all standing in a semicircle and expecting his arrival. The automatic weapons they all carried were idly cradled in their arms and the faded shipping box behind them had been cut open, showing all of the kidnapped kids. Most of them were exhausted, sweating and still in their bathing suits when they were taken aboard his uncle's yacht. Upon hearing him come forth, several of their eyes turned towards him, widening in horror of what was about to happen.

The tallest of the kidnappers stepped forward, gesturing to the backpack, which Benny had unslung and tossed it to the floor.

He smiled behind his mask at the kid, "See? Went off without a hitch. Let's get the fuck out of here."

Instead of leaving, Benny Reyes couldn't wipe the smirk off his face.

The kidnapper opened the backpack expectant to see thousand credit bills bundled together.

What he got instead were a bunch of faded adventure novels.

"What the hell?" He was taken aback by the deception.

Opposite him, Benny was equally surprised, even though Aegis had never actually shown him that there was money inside the bag.

"Benny." Aegis had a bit of smugness in his voice, as if he caught a kid with their hand inside a cookie jar. "What made you think I was going to let you get away that easily?"

Before anyone could respond, a loud bang caused the bag to literally explode, showering everyone with bits of fabric. Benny and the four kidnappers reeled from the effects of the remotely detonated stun grenade and suddenly chaos erupted inside the garage.

The kids began to yell and scream in fright just as Chancellor executed with Lorenzo and the Federal Police. Two of the tangos had gotten their bearings and detected their presence, but Chancellor and Lorenzo both let out three round bursts that put them down.

"Go! Go! Go!" He directed two other members to get the last one and Benny, just as the tall masked guy had suddenly bolted for the door.

Chancellor fired at him, but his burst had missed and the kidnapper hadn't paused to return fire. He grabbed his radio, "Trip! He's headed your way!"

The masked man looked around once he was out at the garage's other end for an exit when Aegis had broke his cover and aimed squarely at his chest, "ONI Agent. Don't move!"

Instead of freezing, he took off, running alongside the garage and into the streets. While mid-sprint, he had fired a shot into the sky, causing instant panic with the surrounding crowds to clear his way.

Aegis saw him making a beeline for the docks, but that was preceded by a long beach where tourists were still relaxing. Looking back behind him, he didn't see the ONI Agent in pursuit.

Unless he looked in the other direction.

With the force of a cage wrestler, Aegis slammed into him from the side sending the both of them off the sidewalk and tumbling into the sand.

The taller man was up quicker and swung a vicious left cross that Trip easily dodged. He retaliated with a couple of jabs to the chest and a third to the stomach.

By now people had gathered around to see what was happening, but neither person cared.

Aegis took advantage as the third punch had doubled him over before quickly giving him a push and then using his left leg to strike directly at his opponent's heel. Just as he had put weight on that leg, Trip's foot moved it off course and he dropped to the sand like a rock.

Trip was on him before he had time to react and fitted a pair of handcuffs over his wrists. He immediately grabbed the mask and yanked it off.

It was exactly who he had expected. Benny's cousin, Carlos. He kept his weight until the clicking sound of the restraint was secure.

"The sand taste good?"

* * *

**Royal Hotel and Suites**

Aegis opened the door to the private room and stood aside to let all of the kids to run and greet their parents. They all wore large jackets with the Acapulco Police logo.

A quick check by himself, Chancellor and Lorenzo had assured that all the other surviving kids were just dehydrated and hungry. They had taken all of them back to his investigation headquarters to be fed and clothed before he had called all of the parents to arrange a meeting. He said nothing indicating he had successfully rescued the kids and wanted to keep it as a bit of surprise as part of him staying true to his word. He heard a chorus of "Daddy! Mom!" As the surprised kids and equally surprised parents ran to one another for reunification. There were laughs, smiles, hugs and kisses of relief as the families celebrated the safe return of their loved ones.

The Raineys had already left, but still had thanked Aegis and Chancellor for their efforts in rescuing everyone else. Trip personally escorted them to the airport and gave them his contact information in case they needed his services again.

Some of the parents had turned to thank Aegis or Chancellor but immediately couldn't find them. Looking around in confusion, it was as if the ONI Agents had done their job and then disappeared back into their dark fold. Although they weren't physically there, many of the adults that day felt a bit of gratitude towards someone who worked for the shady bureau that wasn't as cold-hearted as they were originally perceived.

* * *

At the Acapulco Airport, the jet had arrived to take Aegis and Chancellor back to Los Angeles for a debriefing on what had transpired.

They bade their goodbyes to Detective Lorenzo, who promised that they would share a drink next time they arrived in his city before sealing the craft's door. The engines whined to life as it moved across the aircraft apron to the runway.

"How exactly did you know that Benny was in league with them?" Chancellor asked as the jet lifted itself off the ground. His face stared uncertainly outside as the sunset skyline of Acapulco began to get smaller as they ascended into the clouds.

"I didn't." He chuckled at the kid's perplexed expression, "Had they done one thing differently, they would have pulled it off. The person I talked to had mentioned Benny by his name. Thing I caught on, was how did he know who Benny was besides the image from the news we had put out? We had never put his name out there."

"Oh." His eyes lit up, "So because he knew him personally, he trusted him and he still seemed to be a civilian that had nothing to do with it."

"Hence the perfect person to make it look inconspicuous and allow all seams to close flawlessly."

The two of them remained silent for a few minutes as the jet finally reached cruising altitude and began a northwest heading towards Los Angeles. The thoughts of the case down in Mexico still were fresh in their heads. Aegis couldn't get the image of Dawn Rainey's corpse out of his head.

That had been burned into his memory forever. Still, he would take one dead hostage over nineteen and there was nothing else he could do. The mission was over and they did not stick around for the reunions and the inevitable praise the parents had given them for returning their children back. All the satisfaction Aegis needed was to see them safe again. So now it was one job done and onto the next.

"You did well out there Agent Chancellor." Aegis leaned back in his chair to finally relax, "You're already making one hell of an ONI Agent."

* * *

**How was this for a first flashback? Shows how Aegis and Chancellor worked together for many years and how it affected others. We're back to the present next chapter and maybe even later another flashback section, a part where things may have deteriorated between the two of them.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	18. Gambit I

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_

**November 3, 2558**

"That's one hell of a story." Drew said after Aegis had spoken almost nonstop for three hours straight. "How come I've never heard you talk about it?"

"My ONI career is something I like to discuss more," He looked at the audience of crewmembers numbering about ten, "Privately." His throat suddenly felt parched and then as if on queue, Francois approached him, a glass of ice water in hand. Upon taking a sip, he felt the grainy dry texture in his tongue get swept away and the chill from the ice as it was swallowed. Trip gave the steward and chef a nod of appreciation before the latter slipped away, continuing to move as quietly as a ghost.

"Chancellor has definitely changed since then, if you're telling the truth that is." Vasili said, "That wasn't a case where the two of you began to grow apart. So what could he be planning?"

"That was the start of the downfall. He began to be more ambitious, cunning and started seeing me as an obstacle in his way than a partner. It never really showed, but I saw the signs well before he believed I was aware of it. He's going to use all his cards to take down such a powerful agency, but his only rational moves to make are in the shadows since I doubt even with assistance from another group can take them down. Had ONI believed that he is alive, they would no doubt dissect him due to the highly sensitive nature of a project he worked on while he was my junior agent."

"Which was?"

"A seventh-generation AI."

* * *

_**Kanclers**_

A subtle change in sound roused Vaal from his slumber.

He had taken refuge in a section outside the lich's sealed cabin and strapped himself to the port side of the hull with a gravity clamp. Despite being on the craft's exterior, its shielding system extended a few feet out so he managed to catch roughly four hours of dozing.

The lich and its compatriots who had fled now were approaching a familiar shape of a covenant cruiser. He immediately identified it as an RCS-class, an older but still quite powerful ship that saw limited service during the waning days of the Covenant. When the empire had finally collapsed, numerous naval assets, including the RCS cruiser fell into the hands of warlords and became a staple to replace the more scarce CCS class.

However something threw him off about this particular ship. Some of the hull plating and deck weaponry had been modified to make the ship look like a sleek shark and he also saw human-made missile batteries folded into the ship's ventral side.

Tampering and modifying military equipment, especially weapons was considered heresy by the Prophets and any perpetrator of this was instantly sentenced to execution. Now without the leaders, the ship commanders were able to do as they pleased with their vessels. It was possible that whoever commanded this ship had gotten ahold of human weaponry to bolster its capabilities. Still, Vaal believed that Covenant plasma was superior to most human weapons, but he knew that missiles could serve well as worthy backups, should the former overheat or malfunction.

The liches approached one of the hangars whose shield deactivated, allowing clear access inside.

The twin bays had been taken out to have an even larger hangar bay that had white fluorescent lighting and plenty of room to park six liches side by side.

Finally, it halted movement and activated its grav lift for a short trip down to the ground deck of the cruiser. As much as he wanted to explore around and gather intel, Vaal remained in his position, observing as the brutes that had been unknowingly shared the ship with him begin to disembark.

He finally slinked from his position to peer down. Brutes from the other liches had also left their ships to congregate towards another group that appeared from a couple of doors at the other end of the hangar bay.

Activating his HUD's zooming feature, Vaal centered on the leader, a sangheili donned in light blue ranger armor and flanked by at least a dozen humans armed with assault rifles. He hadn't drawn a weapon himself, but the deactivated hilt of an energy sword was present on his right hip holster.

Judging by the brutes' already aggressive stances, Vaal knew that this meeting would not end well, regardless of the outcome.

"Where is Chancellor?" The chieftain demanded from below.

"He is busy on other matters. I am taking his place for the time being." The sangheili haughtily answered. He refused to be intimidated by the brown furred creature. The Great Schism continued even after half a decade and the two species still harbored a bitter hatred towards one another.

"I will demand for him now! I am not taking deals from some elite!" He mocked the last word, knowing that sangheili found the term to be derogatory. Vaal had looked up the word in a human dictionary and found it meant a high standing and select few. Rather ironic.

"Chancellor has nothing more to offer the likes of you." Arcc growled, "So if I were you, I'd get your pathetic carcasses off my ship before I throw you off."

"I thought we had a deal!"

"The deal has changed ape." One of the humans beside the sangheili spat, "Get your ass off now."

The chieftain let out a war cry and all hell broke loose.

The humans beside the elite opened fire with another gun under the rifle's barrel and suddenly nearly every lackey brute had been vaporized by explosives. Chieftain bellowed and held the gravity hammer in his hands as if it was a toy.

With blinding speed, the ranger flipped the sword onto his belt and the fork prongs of white hot plasma flashed to life. The pack on his back activated and he slammed into the chieftain. It all happened so fast that the jiralhanae had swung the hammer, not knowing that the ranger had just lopped off the head.

Arcc closed the gap once more before grabbing the chieftain in a nelson hold from behind and lifting the struggling larger form into the air. With one hand, he ignited the sword and upon formation, it immediately pierced the brute's armor and hide, gutting it straight through and making a sizzling sound as the hot blades met flesh underneath. Still in midair, he let the body collapse to the ground. Once he had put his weapon away, he slowly began to descend.

From his hiding place, Vaal watched as everyone disposed of the mess in small pods before releasing them. The evidence floated in space for a few seconds before being fire upon by a pair of lateral turrets mounted on the cruiser. Pods were instantly burned on sight, eliminating any evidence.

* * *

Chancellor was in the middle of feeding Estelle Heidi chocolate dipped strawberries as they sat together on his giant bed. As she bit into the fruit, a stream of strawberry juice began to make its way down her chin. He gave her a flirtatious smile and began to lick it off her neck. The action caused her to gasp in a pleasurable manner.

Before long, his chatter started to ring, it was Arcc.

"Chancellor…Okay, I'm on the way."

He turned to Heidi, "Don't go anywhere."

She gave him a chaste kiss on the lips, "Don't be too long."

* * *

Arcc and two humans dressed in rough military fatigues sat at a large meeting table at the bow of the ship. To their right was a beautiful panoramic view of the twinkling lights of the space around. No matter how many times he looked at it, there was something to marvel about, always something a little different.

"Gentlemen," Chancellor had changed into a T-shirt and basketball shorts. Compared to the others, he was under-dressed. "Where are we?"

One of them men brought up a holographic image of a large silvery blue domed building with a backdrop of a lake and green forest. Three stories of dark polarized windows lined its face and just a kilometer to the north was a long runway coupled with hangars, a control tower and anti-air batteries.

"This is the Office of Naval Intelligence Facility Zulu four nine one, located east of Duluth, Minnesota. It's responsible for holding artifacts of valuable interest to the Agency and has things in there dating back to the twenty one hundreds. Over a thousand different items are stored in its vaults."

"Spare me the details Captain," Chancellor said annoyed.

"Mister Chancellor," The Captain snapped back, "If we're going to help you, the least you could do is hear what I have to say."

"Don't bother, just give me the highlights. You and your men already their money in the bank. If you guys get what I need without a hitch, you can definitely demand for a little bonus."

"Um okay then. Security is tight like always and since it is still relatively isolated, we're going to have to plan an aerial insertion. From there, I can only assume once we're inside, you'll take it from there."

"Nobody else except me knows what we're going to be after and that's all you need to know. Just secure the place, eliminate any threats and there will be no trouble from here on out."

"Those antiaircraft batteries are going to be troublesome for our aircraft to penetrate the airspace." Arcc pointed out, "And if they have interceptor aircraft, we'll be out of the equation before we can even commence an approach."

"What about the _Kanclers_?" Ethan looked at the sangheili, "Is it possible to execute a slipspace vector directly overhead. We could have weapons ready and be able to destroy them within seconds, long before they could even mount a defense."

"It was believed to be impossible," One of the men stated.

"But now it is not." Arcc finished, "The former Prophet of Regret had managed to use his flagship to escape an atmosphere like Earth's and jump a significant distance away. So I have no doubt we can exit perfectly inside. The fallout from the jump just about destroyed the city, so we may have to gain some altitude to avoid unwanted destruction. We don't want anyone to know of our identity just yet."

"Good enough." Chancellor stood with the two humans, "I want your teams on the ground in nine hours."

As the three of them exited, Arcc waited until they had finally disappeared down the halls of the ship before he unholstered a plasma rifle from his hip. His eyes furtively scanned the room, but so far whatever he was attempting to find wasn't there.

With a frustrated growl, he raised the blue gun and fired rapidly. With a high pitched whine, the device began spitting out white hot gobs of plasma all over the conference room. He held his finger down on the trigger, even as the indicators began to change color and it suddenly seized up and flaps opened up on the sides to vent the excess heat that had built up in the energy core.

Arcc waved his hand to disperse the waves and then aimed it forward, creeping up and peering underneath, still with the weapon at the ready.

Nothing.

For a moment, he had believed that someone with a cloaking device had hidden themselves in the room to eavesdrop, but after showering the entire meeting room with enough plasma to kill a Mgalekgolo, nothing had turned up. Even though that was the case, he still was not satisfied, as little prey had escaped his clutches.

As Arcc left the room, Vaal Talam watched him go. He had pressed himself just perpendicular to the other elite when he was spraying it with bullets. There was a nagging feeling when he noted that he didn't leave immediately and Vaal suspected that his presence was felt, even though during the entire conversation, nobody glanced in his direction.

If someone was aware that he had stowed away on the ship, he had limited time, both to warn Aegis and to survive on this ship.

* * *

**Chancellor is going after a target, but what could it be?**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	19. Gambit II

**Office of Naval Intelligence Site 182 "The Vault"**

**City of Luanda, Luanda Province, Third Republic of Angola, Earth**

**November 3, 2558**

Luanda was a thriving city.

It was the capital and largest settlement in the Earth nation of Angola that was situated on the southern end. The metropolitan area lined the Atlantic Ocean, home to more than eleven million people. Of most cities that grew since humanity's rapid population increase in the twentieth century, Luanda remained relatively stable and static. It continued to increase in residence, but the growth remained constant. One third of the nation's population resided here.

Angola, like many African nations gained its independence from its Portuguese overlords in 1975, however many separate factions plagued the country into civil war that lasted until 2002.

During its progression into the twenty second century, Luanda underwent radical transformations. The cityscape was drastically changed, from its older buildings into the latest head-turning designs. The economy improved and the population continued to increase over time; mostly due to another civil war that caused refugees to flee into the safe borders. Much of the Portuguese influence remained, being one of the many African nations that inherited its former colonizer.

The Interplanetary War saw a large change in Angolan history, the Frieden a German-based political idealism sparked a third civil war in the later 2160s where they reached the ears of the more liberal members of the government. Calling for change and hoping to draw the larger Frieden factions from the Jovian moons, the country was erupted into war again, this time on the western side of the country.

The United Nations gave support to the legitimate Angolan government and eventually had to intervene on yet another front during the war.

The UNSC gave a swift response, mounting a harbor assault with a fleet of space-borne warships that caught the Frieden Angolans completely off guard. They had fortified the east side, where another contingent of naval assets were being kept at bay due to missile sites proving dangerous to the vessels. The raging battle had nearly destroyed the capital.

Within a week, Luanda's group of radical party members had either been killed in the fighting or imprisoned and the remnants of the Second Angolan Republic were formed into the Third.

In the north section of Luanda was the Office of Naval Intelligence Site 182 codenamed "the Vault" It sat away from the residential sections and just within view of the downtown skyline. Like most ONI buildings, it had a long plane appearance with angular edges. The theme was akin to stealth aircraft, a closely guarded secret since their introduction in the 1980s, when the United States of America introduced the formerly futuristic F-117 Nighthawk.

The building stood imposing, up eleven stories and had a clear view of the Atlantic Ocean before them. People who approached the highway where an exit would lead to the facility's entrance would remark that it appeared as if it was focusing on facing both south and west at the same time.

The main complex had tall fences in a wide perimeter coupled with twin sniper towers that gave a marksman nearly unobstructed view of both inside the outside the borders.

The hologram of the two men dressed in combat fatigues sitting atop the tower that was further west moved in exact timing as they did from where they were standing. Chancellor's stealth probe remained a good distance away, but kept its zoom optics and sensor feed trained on that specific sniper.

ONI was known for being able to quickly detect surveillance on their sites through unknown means, but the powerful scan was only able to be used every ten minutes. So after a time when a scan had nearly detected his first stealth probe, he had sent it into the wilderness in the north.

Seven minutes was all his teams needed to begin.

Chancellor himself was sliding on the last pads of his gear when a signal from the holotank caught his attention. He clicked a response twice and then commanded his _Kanclers_.

Down on the surface, a loud hissing sound had distracted the snipers on the tower. They peered outside and saw the sleek gray shape of a familiar Covenant designed cruiser that had just materialized out of slipspace above their position.

Within seconds, the base came alive. The night sky was lit by large spotlights, who trained them on the ventral part of the cruiser. Its approach vector and altitude from the ground openly spoke as if it was going to attack immediately.

Towards the ocean, there was a small airstrip with three antiaircraft batteries. Upon detecting the vessel above, they pivoted skyward and immediately opened fire. Their missiles sailed across the sky and detonated in bright orange fireballs.

Inside the decks of the _Kanclers_, Chancellor scoffed, his ship was entirely undamaged and his shields hadn't even been at their maximum output with close to nothing depleted upon the attack.

That didn't stop ONI from launching a full salvo. The missiles launched, coupled by the drumming fire of the scythe battery was completely ignored by the starship grade shielding and armor.

_Kanclers_ changed course, turning towards the north. The port side began to glow purple from three slots as it warmed up its turrets. Seconds later, three lances of hot plasma shot down, straight at the base's anti-air defenses. They blistered from the intense heat and were obliterated on impact.

Further on the belly of the ship, twin batteries of missiles had extended out and launched their payload. Just before their deaths, the snipers on both towers realized that they were locked on to every major guard position the Vault had.

"All primary defenses down," Chancellor said as he was climbing into a seat, "Commence Phase Two of the operation."

After his word, the cruiser suddenly deployed a wave of pods, headed straight towards the main courtyard. A second, but smaller group was also launched, but this one was towards the airfield.

Resembling a coffin, the Covenant drop pods comfortably carried a human occupant instead. Directed at the center of the action, the eleven men emerged from their cradles and quickly group loosely together. All moved with the fluidness of a trained professional and they constantly checked everywhere by the sights of MA5D Assault Rifles. Each member of Chancellor's mercenary contingent had been remotely in contact with him and were employed by Chasseur for various reasons. They all shared the motive to get paid however.

To an invader, one would quickly discover that the inside atrium would lead to a dead end. The Office of Naval Intelligence smartly put highly fortified defenses including an armed contingent of soldiers to defend a pathway that was actually nothing. Having been to the Vault twice in his ONI career, Chancellor was well aware of this schematic, but still sent a forward frontal assault to fool ONI to believe that he was unaware of that fact.

* * *

The real entrance to the Vault was through the airfield. Cargo aircraft from both the air and space could descend over the Atlantic Ocean and land on the long 10,000 foot runway towards the hangars. Beside them was a station that contained an underground rail that ran into the subterranean levels of the Vault before entering the building from behind and a large elevator that hauled the assets up to a proper storage location.

That was the facility's purpose. Its location was well known, although the façade the Agency had said to outsiders was that the Vault was responsible for holding dangerous people and objects. The statement was only half true. ONI had other places that were far more guarded and harsh to house their group of nasty delinquents.

The Vault housed ninety nine percent of artifacts confiscated from the UNSC or things that was deemed classified by Section Three. Everything from files that would cause an arrest to an individual who read them to excavated Forerunner artifacts that seemed to hold some value.

"The train and entrance to the Vault are now under our control." Arcc's gravelly voice came through.

"Hold it and send it to the airstrip terminal." Chancellor pulled the straps and secured himself inside the drop pod, "I will be joining you."

He initiated launch and directed it towards the airstrip.

Fifteen seconds later, Chancellor and two other operatives hit the ground and exited their pods. The frontal hatches blasted open, allowing him to stretch his limbs and retrieve his pistol, a black Acheron A9.

The sangheili ranger met him halfway, kicking aside a dead ONI guard with multiple plasma burns and bullet holes in his body. He wore the standard issue bluish white Covenant harness with a crystal domed helmet that was sealed and shielded his face from impairing attacks, "Our teams have secured the first level and are moving towards the second."

"What's the ETA on ONI and UNSC reinforcements?"

"We're tracking their orbital and air assets, no movement yet."

"Then let's not overstay our welcome." The former Agent racked a round through the chamber of his pistol, "Lead the way."

The guards at the "main entrance" had already relayed that the attackers were intent on gaining entrance and diverted others to aid them.

It gave a false presentation that the entrance to the important facility was there with more defending it.

However, Chancellor had already known that it was a fake entrance. It could be opened, but only through access from a control room inside. Therefore, he had to use the artifact access.

The ride through the train that ran inside the building was short and when he emerged, many of his mercenaries under his command were holding position in the next chamber. Gunfire could be heard as they traded shots with the ONI security.

The corridors on the upper levels were in a simple gray hallway with darkened windows that showed the outside with a view of Luanda. Enemies dressed in a black security uniform with the infamous ONI logo on the shoulder were at the far opposite ends with rifles.

"We're losing time," One of the men shouted. Just as he finished his sentence, a thin white line suddenly struck his arm and he collapsed. The action would have left him wounded, but his eyes listlessly fell open and yet there was no entry wound.

"Shit," Chancellor cursed, "Hardsound rifle."

ONI operatives had access to the odd Hardsound rifle, a scoped weapon that was seldom used by their assassins. It caused cerebral hemorrhage and essentially could kill anyone instantly on any part of their body without entry/exit wounds. It has nearly no residue either, making it very difficult for forensic experts to determine the cause of death.

Chancellor never knew that it was going to be used for defense, but a weapon this power meant that the Agency was determined to protect something from them.

Of course it was. This was the storage area for pretty much everything ONI had deemed classified.

"Draw their fire," Chancellor stood up, "I'm going to use this hall to flank them from behind."

Before anyone could reply, he exited beside them and made his way down.

Sticking to the wall, he heard commotion headed his way. Thankfully it was only one security agent.

Since his approach was close by, he lunged out faster than lightning, catching the other man off guard. He jabbed a hook in his solar plexus, doubling him over before grabbing the back of his head and bringing it down towards his knee. The bony leg collided with his nose and knocked him out cold.

Another two came after him with their weapons raised. With one hand, he double tapped the one closer to him in the head and quickly brought it up to the second man, taking him out as well.

"Chancellor, that rifle's keeping us pinned!"

"I know!" He irritably snapped back, rounding the corner again and seeing the operator fire another shot to keep Arcc and the mercs at bay.

Raising his fist, a tiny tubelike object sprang up a barb inside began to rotate at a rapid speed. He fired it, the propellant being a razor sharp slug that was noiselessly forced out.

Nicknamed the Drill Knife, the slug was four inches long and acted similar to a harpoon, but instead rotated like a bullet to cause additional damage for spiked fins that extended out right after shooting. The weapon was of Chancellor's design and was submitted to the Office of Naval Intelligence for use by its field agents. Only a few were impressed at it.

However it was quite effective, as soon as it impacted inside the agent's body, the rotation slowed down so that even if it exited, it would not be without being as painful and as long as possible. It was made for someone to get hit screaming.

And that's what happened to the operator of the Hardsound rifle.

"Clear."

"Gather the ID badges of the security personnel," Chancellor ordered, "Open up as many vaults as possible before ONI locks up their access keys."

"What about you?" Arcc asked.

Before he could inquire further, he had disappeared.

While the random openings of the Vault's storage areas were part of his plan, Chancellor's real intention was to head into the more classified section.

Donning a uniform from the security quarters' locker room, he strode confidently through having memorized his destination and assured that they hadn't moved what he had come for since his last visit.

He laid low as another trio of guards were up ahead. One of them came to the large vault in the corner and pressed a few commands on the nearby keypad. The door hissed and the latches were unlocked, allowing it to swing open.

Seeing the other two part ways, he scurried to the edge and went in right after the guard. He drew a knife and wrenched a hand right around the larger person's neck. Immediately, he dropped his weapon and clawed helplessly at his assailant.

Chancellor unsheathed a knife with his free hand and slit the upper part of the guard's neck, the carotid artery. Blood free from its housing spilled out over the floor as he let go of the limp body.

With all the guards neutralized, he pulled the door shut. The vault he had put himself inside had only one artifact and it was the one he had gone through all this trouble to obtain.

The book was worn with a split cover that he peeled open on the right side to allow the pages to freely slid about. The cover was brown and a couple dark coffee stains seemed to tarnish its antique appearance.

This artifact was first started in August of 2510, when it was purchased at a bookstore on the colony of Reach. Over the next four decades, the information inside the hard copy grew, thanks to its owner, a genius doctor. Inside contained various content, from countering Insurrections, the Covenant threat, the Spartan program and details on the complex AI matrix.

It was the personal journal of Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey.

* * *

**Yup, things are now starting to get interesting. What could be inside Dr. Halsey's journal that he would have gone through so much effort to get?**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	20. Gambit III

**UNSC Ballista in orbit over Earth**

**November 2, 2558**

Tongju was seated at his communications center with a pair of headphones clamped over his ears. He was currently monitoring traffic on multiple channels, civilian, military and even the encrypted ones ONI had, thanks to their contacts within the agency.

Switching between the channels, the native of Busan had his face wrinkled in curiosity. Naval Intelligence was definitely worried through the chatter. Multiple codes he deciphered were meaning that an attack was taking place.

"The Vault," One voice was saying over and over. Given the operator's heavy breathing meant he was gravely wounded. "Hostiles attacking the vault!"

"How's that possible?!" Another voice demanded, "The Vault is one of the most secure ONI campuses on Earth?"

"Covenant…Covenant ship…with humans and weapons."

"Stand by. Get the Home Fleet to close in on the Covenant ship. We've got _Atacama_ en route to intercept and monitor the incoming engagement."

"Slipspace signature!" Danny Tyler cried out, "The Covenant ship's jumping!"

"Course?" Aegis asked, sitting in the command chair.

"Unknown."

"Can we piggyback on it?"

"If we can get to the rupture in time. The cruiser is nearly two grid squares away and just exiting the planet's atmosphere."

"Helm," Aegis turned to Danny, "Calculate a course and approach vector."

"Done! Plotting course at four five directly down the Y."

"Get us there, increase our engine output to seventy! And once we've entered the slipstream, activate cloak!"

"Aye!"

The _Ballista_'s engines dilated in their cone diameter and the vessel lurched forward, arcing downward. The point was directed towards Luanda where everyone could see the familiar bulbous shape of the Covenant ship. Right in front of it was a silvery blue white line that quickly opened up into the slipspace portal. Closing in on the ship were a trio of Strident-class frigates from the UNSC and judging by the ONI chatter, a prowler was also hanging around.

"Helm change course by 270 in a looparound. Increase our bearing by ten! We're losing our opportunity!"

The _Kanclers_ was now about halfway inside the portal when _Ballista_ had rounded the side and accelerated again towards the portal. Behind it, the frigates flashed at their bow as they unleashed a salvo of MAC shells that uselessly splattered on the shields.

Just as the slipspace rupture had shut, _Ballista_ had put the maximum power to her thrusters and sneaked inside the bubble with milliseconds to spare.

* * *

_**Kanclers**_

"Sir, we have an unidentified signature following us in Slipstream." One of the bridge crew reported from his station.

Chancellor leaned down in his command seat, one hand with Dr. Halsey's journal open, "Identified?"

"Signature depicts it as a frigate. UNSC manufactured, although I can't determine which class."

"Computer, cross-reference UNSC frigate profiles with the signature in slipspace."

"Identified, UNSC vessel. Guardian frigate class."

"A Guardian?" Chancellor was surprised, "Specific vessel?" He asked.

"Unknown, one hundred and thirty-two potential hulls were to be laid out, however only twenty one were ever commissioned." The Kanclers' AI had replied in monotone. "As of ONI's most last known database containing this class; only two vessels remained in commission. UNSC _Ballista_ FFG-388 and UNSC _Defiant_ FFG-381."

"I saw _Defiant_ get scrapped and her hull used to repair other damaged ships. It's got to be _Ballista_."

"What are we going to do?"

"You have to hold it off until I complete my work. Let's exit slipspace by Saturn and set up a wall."

"It won't be easy."

"No, but I trust you'll make it work."

* * *

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_** exiting slipspace by Saturn**

"Exiting slipspace now." Danny Tyler brought up the display just as they had exited. In front of them lay the golden planet of Saturn with a small layer of the uppermost part of its iconic planetary rings. From afar, it appeared as if it was a solid matter, but on a closer look, it was composed of debris, ice, rocks.

The sixth planet from Sol, Saturn was home to more than a hundred and fifty natural satellites and five of those were inhabited and terraformed. It also had Castellaneta, a famous orbital resort that was on the planet's sunny side on the outermost ring.

"Where's Chancellor?"

"The cruiser has turned around to face us at the edge of the inner part of the ring." Danny said.

"Take us in."

"Aye sir."

_Ballista_ moved forward to confront the _Kanclers_. Oddly, the enemy ship made no move to shoot them, even though they were now well within its plasma torpedo range.

"The hell isn't it shooting?" Luke Riley asked. "We're well into its range already and they're into ours."

Aegis was thinking the same question too. _Kanclers_ had already known it was being followed since it vacated Angola. Chancellor was smart, so he definitely had a plan. There were times he would boast about leaving traps for reckless foes.

"Helm, cut the engines immediately. Full reverse!"

"Sir?"

"Just do it!" Aegis sternly ordered, "It's a trap!"

"Cutting engines!"

Almost instantaneous, the Ballista's main propulsion sounded off and the ship halted its normal forward motions before activating its thrusters again, this time in the opposite direction.

"What are you doing?" Leah Roush asked.

"Chancellor has laid a trap in front of us. He's presented an easy target." Aegis replied. "The bastard," He muttered under his breath, relieved that he had caught the error in time to being embarrassed in front of his former ONI "apprentice".

"Wepps, open the Death Machine on the bow and starboard sides. Lay down a field of fire."

"Aye sir."

Essentially three four barreled miniguns, the Death Machines were not as adept at dealing with ship to ship threats, they were very effective against fast moving aircraft and their ball rotary base gave them a one hundred and eighty degree radius over both axis to hit any target. Just a second of fire from one gun contained more than two hundred and fifty bullets and their firepower was enough to demolish an armored wraith tank.

Computers directed its fire, often projected slightly ahead of the target so that it would fly or move directly into the hailstorm of bullets, grinding it like hamburger.

A tongue of flame soundlessly dispensed a wall of depleted rounds into space. They continued to travel forward into nothingness, with the Ballista's crew holding their breath.

Then to their right, something made contact. Seventy of the kinetic rounds had hit something that was camouflaged from both eyes and sensors. The Covenant mine exploded in a brilliant bluish white flash and the action caused other hidden charges to become tripped and detonated in a similar manner. The bridge's screens were lit up with the brightness intense and quick enough to cause the lenses to adjust their tint to counteract the rush of light.

"Nice try kid." Aegis muttered. Had he charged in guns blazing, this standoff would have been over before it even began.

The_ Kanclers_ began to charge the turrets on her side as she pivoted to the side.

"Wepps, ready the MAC. Match bearings with the enemy bow and shoot."

"Aye sir." Luke began reading off numbers and coordinated with Danny.

"Everyone, strap in." Aegis called, both to the bridge crew and on the speaker to the rest of the ship, "We're in for a rough ride."

"Incoming!" Tongju cried, "Twin plasma torpedoes headed straight for us. Estimated impact in twenty seconds!"

"Shit." The targeting of plasma torpedoes out in open was almost a death wish. Even if he used evasive maneuvers, there would hardly be anywhere to run.

"Ten seconds!"

Aegis considered his options and made it decisive, "Nav, get us to the ring."

"Sir?" Danny gave him a puzzled look.

"Do it! All hands, brace for impact!"

The helmsman throttled the controls, nervously eyeing the twin streaks of purple plasma headed straight in their direction. One was a bit in front of the other, so that if the ship had shields, the first one would eliminate it so the second could finish off the unshielded vessel.

Danny kept an eye on the incoming salvo as everyone else leaned forward in their seats, putting their hands on the edges of their station and heads down. It was protocol and instinct for every one of them in drills.

Luck had been on their side since whomever was manning the weapons on the_ Kanclers _was not fully used to the system. The lethal trails had passed by the frigate by ten meters on each side, continuing to burn through space from its missed target.

"We're clear!"

"Go!"

Lurching forward, the _Ballista_ arced down, diving straight towards the first layer of asteroids.

"Controls," Aegis commanded.

"Commander's got the helm."

Danny Tyler was the best helmsman Aegis had ever met and he was more than capable of moving the nimble _Ballista_ through the rings without breaking a sweat, but call him a control freak because in tense situations like these; Trip wanted nobody but himself in control of the vessel.

"Cloak."

"Cloaking." Moments later, the Ballista's active camouflage caused it to disappear from both radar and enemy eyes.

The rings provided them with protection while they worked out a plan. Knowing that Chancellor's assault in Luanda had only one item stolen after a post-battle inventory, he was curious to know why he had gone through all the trouble to attain Catherine Halsey's journal.

"Sir?" This time it was Tongju. "We've got a channel opening. It's coming from the other ship."

* * *

**A face to face? Can't be good.**

**I don't think I've ever been this excited about Halo since Halo: Reach came out. Just read Hunters in the Dark and it is easily my third favorite novel after _Ghosts of Onyx_ and _Cole Protocol_. I am also giddy about _Last Light_ that is supposed to come out next month. Plus, Halo 5: Guardians is that much closer to being released and I intend to log plenty of hours on campaign, Warzone and execute plenty of assassinations!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	21. Gambit IV

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_

**In orbit around Saturn**

**November 2, 2558**

Trip settled on a pair of headphones and turned to face the main screen. Turning to Tongju, he gave a nod, signaling the Korean to establish a connection.

"The moment Chancellor tries to get a lock on our position, you cut it."

"Got it sir."

"Wepps, arm a pod of Archers and prepare to lock and fire on my mark."

"It'll be ready. You have my word on that." Luke sat down at his station and readied his captain's orders.

"Patch it through."

The screen projector faded out, posting an image of a freshly groomed young man in his mid to late twenties. He wore a lavish looking indigo bathrobe that looked formal even if it was nighttime wear. In his hand was a crystal flute that had golden bubbling champagne. Aegis was surprised that he didn't have a cat in his lap or a blonde in his arm. Even more surprising was the fact that his face had been unscathed.

Yet the other person recognized him almost immediately. His deep blue eyes were burning with an overwhelming lust for vengeance. Five years ago, he saw those same eyes in person and that fire inside was anything but extinguished.

"Ah!" Chancellor chuckled, "Look who it is! The old man himself! Still being ONI's lap-dog nowadays?"

The familiarity started to come back to Trip. Aside from being hell-bent on revenge on him, Ethan had changed very little, even his physical appearance wasn't too aged, save for the hints of a beard on his chin. Last time he saw him, he almost had a full one, so it was likely he had recently shaved.

"Wait until you're my age kid." Aegis shot back with a sly grin of his own, knowing the nickname would irk him, "You seem to have embraced the perks of a bachelor. What's her name?"

"Whatever you say. Are you going to get the hell out of my way or do I have to swat you out?"

"Hey," The Commander held up his hands in compliance, "I thought you wanted to have a talk?"

"We have nothing to discuss about,"

"Well I do have a question for you. What is it you wanted with Doctor Halsey's journal?"

"How did you know I had it?"

"I'm ONI's lap-dog remember? You said it yourself."

Chancellor sighed, "I have a project that I am working on and I believe that Doctor Halsey has discovered the missing elements. New for my corporate enterprise."

"Should've known you were going into business. Didn't think you'd go to the lengths of attacking ONI directly to get a head start."

"Wasn't much left for me to do after I'm supposedly dead. You of all people should know that." He set down his flute and reached into his robe. Parting it, he showed his bare chest where two circular scars could be seen just by the sternum on his right breast. "See that? You did that to me and left me for dead. You don't have much room for forgiveness."

"Same applies to you. Those agents you killed had wives, children, families. You really think you'll be forgiven when you're on your knees before Serin? After you killed dozens of her men?"

"Osman can burn in hell for all I care," Chancellor spat, "Even after surviving Sanghelios, I managed to put in a distress call. Long distance though, I asked for an extraction, saying that I was alive. You know what I got?" He paused, "Instead of a craft coming to bring me to the _Point_ with treatment and debriefing, I got an earful of excuses. Can't risk extracting because the elites would know the UNSC was involved. Only you and I know the truth."

"The operation was fucked from the start! I tried to tell them that."

"Even in your standing as a senior agent, those concerns were ignored. And they pumped you full of drugs to shut you up!"

"Well what happens when you protest against the head of ONI? You either get killed or imprisoned for the rest of your life with a forgotten legacy. Do you want either to happen to you?"

"Not if I do it to them first."

Aegis raised an eyebrow. Was his former friend and student this delirious? "There are thousands more after me. This is a lost cause kid! You really want to commit to it?"

"Listen to me old man, you shot me twice, but for once, let's just pretend it was something in the past. As much as I hate you right now, I'm not going to waste my time in trying to dispose of your stupid ship. So," He folded his arms together, "How about this? I know you're cloaked and hiding inside the ring like the coward you are, so uncloak and jump into slipspace. I'll power down my weapons since I don't want to see your old ass ever again. We'll just leave it at that. But the second you and your group of thugs interfere with my affairs or activities, I will do the same to you as you have done to me." He tapped his chest, "And then, I'll make sure it's done the right way."

"You're not harming anyone else."

"There's people I have to do this to and it's not just Naval Intelligence. If you're going to stand in my way, I will come at you with all the firepower I muster. Even if you survive, I'm going to make your life chaotic."

"Then do it." Aegis declared, "Start your absurd crusade for revenge with me and my crew. You better enjoy it while it lasts because from your standpoint, there will be no turning back."

He seemed to have set the flames of revenge even stronger and Chancellor had begun to shake slightly since he knew that Aegis had finally gotten under his skin and irritated him enough to snap.

"Oh and by the way," Trip interrupted before Ethan could terminate the connection, "I'd figure out how to lock-on with those plasma torpedoes. If that barrage hit _Ballista_, she'd be finished."

* * *

_**Kanclers**_

Chancellor rubbed his temples and pounded his fist on the side of his chair in frustration. Even hardened by five years, he was still susceptible and had been made a fool by his former mentor.

He considered multiple things, going to Estelle Heidi for comfort, but she had given him all he desired. Now, no longer did he see the benefit of having her around except to use his resources. It was time to find a new woman to suit his needs.

At the same time, he should probably get to dealing with Aegis. Even now, standing on opposite sides of the field, part of him seemed to care for the younger man. He wondered if Trip had felt any regret.

There was no point in feeling any of that now. All that mattered was making all of those who made him suffer pay for what they had done.

Doctor Halsey's journal had given the final pieces of his work and it was finally complete.

A seventh-generation AI.

This feat was accomplished by nobody as of yet. Artificial intelligences were categorized in two categories; Smart and Dumb.

Dumb AIs were far from their designation of being mentally impaired. Essentially the evolution of supercomputers, these constructs were created from conventional programming methods. Their uses were much more limited than their expensive counterparts, although they were capable of performing much more difficult tasks in greater numbers than any human or computer. Dumb AIs could function as long as needed and their uses went to things that did not demand for strong-decision making. Thus, these intelligences were not to be used in UNSC Navy ships as their primary assistant.

On the other hand, Smart AIs were much more valuable. Being without limitations in their memory processing matrix, they are capable of learning from their surroundings. Constructed by scanning a human brain, the process was done usually after whomever was already dead.

Doctor Halsey had rewritten how to make the next AIs and the idea of flash cloning her own brain to use in assembling the AI. Chancellor had done the same, although he was only able to perform it twice, essentially creating two AIs of the seventh generation. Using a flash cloned brain of a living host was illegal for the practice, but there was nobody here to attempt arresting Ethan.

At least not yet.

Even though Chasseur had only completed two prototypes, it wouldn't be long before he reached a mass manufacturing plant where he could receive brains from dead donors and sell these valuable constructs to the highest bidders. The makeup was surprisingly simple to him, all he needed was just a direction to compile its dynamic capabilities.

ONI had probably been tipped off to his treachery by Aegis…the asshole. His facilities were probably raided with all personnel connected to him arrested and probably detained, never to see the light of day again without duress. No matter. He would flee to a haven of outlaws and reestablish his foothold there. Several of these new seventh generation AIs would serve on his side to unleash a new type of attack that Naval Intelligence would not be able to combat, even with their best warriors; both physical and digital.

His thoughts trained to Estelle Heidi. Although he saw no more use for her as of a companion, she could make an excellent donor to a third brain.

Chancellor had Arcc commanding the ship to deal with _Ballista_ as he made ready to prepare his third AI. The other two had yet to be tested and sat on the tables of his workshop, inside a pair of data crystal chips. The brains he had cloned from himself had now dissolved in an acidic basin since he did not want anyone to gleam anything from them. Not even his closest associates.

Ironically a situation like this would leave him to trust nobody, except Aegis. He could have been a close confidant to this kind of sensitive information. However to him, the incident had left them as "dead" to one another. All Aegis did was shame him and then took all credit for salvaging the operation.

There was nothing he could do to redeem himself from that. He must die…like the rest of ONI.

* * *

_**Ballista**_

"The _Kanclers_ is here." Drew pointed to a position on the holotank on the main bridge, "We're here dodging asteroids and can make a quick exfil once we reach the end."

"We go into slipspace, we'll be noticed." Aegis said.

"We could warm up Archers to distract him."

"His shields are going to be warmed up already. We fire on him; we give up our exact position, not to mention deactivating the cloak."

"I know that Trip," Drew piped up, "But what alternatives do we have?"

Aegis couldn't think of one just yet, but some bits of concept were coming to his mind.

"We're going to do a Keyes Loop." He declared. Turning to Danny, "How long can you prepare a jump to Earth?"

"Less than a minute. While we're performing the Loop, we can make the jump. No promises we'll accidentally jump into the planet though, the gravity can get a little dicey."

"What are you thinking?" Drew asked, more curious than concerned. His best friend had brilliant ideas when it came to battle tactics, although some of them were borderline insane.

"Chancellor's positioned his ship far enough that his torpedoes have ample time to track _Ballista_. We do a Keyes Loop, utilize our emergency thrusters to avoid them."

"And then use his own payload against him," Drew finished. "You think Danny can pull it off?"

"I'll be the one performing the action."

"What about Vaal?" His number two asked, "If we destroy the ship and he's on it, he's as good as gone!"

"You think I don't know that? Right now we've got bigger fish to fry."

"Bigger fish?" Drew shook a finger at him, "You're willing to sacrifice our friend to satisfy your vendetta?"

"No. It's not a vendetta." Trip said, "Vaal's my friend too and if Chancellor does get away, I can't comprehend what he will do. Anyone could be the target, ONI or civilian. So yes, I don't want to sacrifice Vaal's life for an affair that was caused by me, but it's what he would do. It's what brothers do for each other."

Nicknamed after the famous naval commander who first used the concept at Sigma Octanus IV, the Keyes Loop involved using the plasma torpedo's tracking ability against its own user.

The RCS-class cruiser utilized the same variant mounted on the Covenant destroyers and were capable of tracking locked targets from a very distant range. They could also manually be guided by operators in case specific parts of an enemy ship were to be disabled.

The tactic involved a sudden evasion of the primary volley by the emergency thrusters to jettison the ship out of the immediate path. The torpedoes that missed, would loop around and reacquire the target. Now he would then head straight for the enemy ship, grazing past it and with the payload following, would hit its own launcher.

"Hope you know what you're doing Commander." Drew said, using Aegis' formal rank.

"So do I." Trip sat himself inside the command seat, "Here we go. Everyone might want to strap themselves in."

* * *

**Here we go! Up next is some ship-to-ship action, a confrontation and maybe even a recall on where things began to wither away between our Commander and Agent Chancellor!**

**Just pre-ordered my copy of Halo 5: Guardians and I am just ecstatic that it is set to be released in less than three months. Seriously October, hurry up already! In the meantime, I am already writing up the next installment of the Eon saga, where our favorite Spartan fireteam is back on Requiem to kick some Covenant and Promethean ass!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	22. Gambit V

_**Kanclers**_

**In orbit around Saturn**

**November 2, 2558**

"How close are you to tracking cloaked ships?" Chancellor asked.

"Units under active camouflage emit a magnetic signature and it doesn't appear until it decloaks," Arcc explained over the line, "I can't locate it unless the other ship attacks again."

"Shit," While he may have an inferior ship, Aegis was certainly not stupid and had a tendency to turn odds into his favor even with fewer and weaker resources. "Keep on him. I'm nearly done."

"I was a Ranger, not a shipmaster. Can only work so fast."

Ethan scoffed at the sangheili's attempt at humor as he disconnected the line. He dialed another number and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Yes?" A voice asked.

"Aegis is onto me and he has the upper hand," He explained, "Proceed with the distraction and have the gravball player inform him within six hours. That should keep him off my trail for the time being."

"I'm on it."

Chancellor hung up and scooted over to a portable computer. Next to it was a holotank with multiple odd looking tools and three data crystal chips.

From here, the computer provided him with images of Estelle Heidi, taken by him when she slept after the two had made love to one another. What drew him to her was her cheeks and nose.

He had met thousands of young women who were more than willing to throw themselves naked into his bed with him, but truth was that while he enjoyed the practice of each one being much different, he had yet to find a perfect mate. Heidi was as close as he came, but this one not only had her cheekbones and perfect nose, but her hourglass figure was superior to the woman onboard his own vessel.

She was New Corsican like Heidi, but her age was put around twenty two years old, living in the same city of Alto Valeur by the name of Gabrielle Addison.

While the women he had courted served as a companion to him, he also used their body features, ones that he found to be attractive and implemented them into constraints for his seventh-generation AI. The processes from the features were going to be a young female in her twenties with the traits that he would put in as his personal AI. The others he had managed to perfect would develop their own digital traits and would likely appeal to different buyers.

Aegis wasn't his primary concern right now. Arcc had some handling at the helm of a cruiser and could take on a little frigate with cloaking. Sure it was a Guardian class, but how could it go up against a Covenant cruiser that was known to eliminate a half dozen of the ship type before finally going down?

Maybe he ought to fill his own bedroom with carbon monoxide. The lethal gas was odorless, colorless and she'd be dead within a few minutes of constant inhalation. He'd then vent it out and have the bedroom all to himself once again. With it open, there would be no time wasted in courting his new target.

Releasing the gas could be done from his holotank and he quickly rerouted waste lines that included a mixture of monoxide before readying to pipe down into his chamber.

"Turn human."

The voice was low, a deep rumbling bass that sounded full of authority and power. It wasn't Arcc's either and no human aboard would call one another by their species' name.

Chancellor froze in his tracks and cautiously reached underneath his desk. There was a stubby sawed off twelve gauge hunting shotgun he kept in case of intruders. The ship's armory was located farther away from his workshop and he forbade any weapons to be carried unless the vessel was under attack. Other than that, only him, Arcc and some of his senior mercenary staff were allowed to carry sidearms at all times.

"I would not try it if I were you." The voice spoke again. "The weapon hidden under the desk does little at such a distance. A shotgun if I remember correctly."

"Who are you?"

He stepped out of the shadows, active camouflage fading away. "My name is Vaal Talam and I'm here on the behalf of your mentor Aegis."

* * *

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_

Trip cursed again, wishing that he had an AI companion. Not only would they likely provide some sort of entertainment while on longer slipspace jumps or in the middle of doing nothing like hiding from his crazy apprentice who controls a Covenant cruiser, but they would be able to evade all the junk orbiting this planet without breaking a sweat.

Danny Tyler was a master helmsman and he was subtly moving out of the path of the larger asteroids, but he was getting nervous and the paths always widened before closing up moments later. One miss up and a large one would both damage Ballista and Chancellor's cameras would pick up the disturbance, giving up her location.

"Everyone set?" Trip asked.

"Navigation checked."

"Primary engines and cloaking systems nominal."

"Weapons are spinning up," Luke Riley said from his station, "Ready to fire at your word."

"Danny, take us out of the fields and transfer helm controls to me."

"Aye sir."

_Ballista_ slowly eased out of the main areas, causing the entire crew to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Transferring the con."

"I have con." Aegis said, "Weapons, arm three Spear class missiles and target lock at Chancellor's command center."

"You're not going to kill him are you?"

"Whoever's inside."

"I thought we were doing a Keyes Loop." Drew coughed.

"We are." Aegis replied, "But Chancellor has ways to coax his target out of hiding and if he were personally observing things, we'd already be fighting."

He turned to weapons, "Prepare to decloak on my command."

"Ready sir."

"Do it!"

On the main display, the monitor registered that the camouflage was no longer active.

"He's noticed!" Tongju reported, "Enemy ship is charging weapons and are tracking us!"

"Fire now!" Aegis commanded, "Put the entire ship into Condition Amber!"

"Firing!" Luke flipped the switches and toggled the joystick on the consoles.

Outside the _Ballista_, three ports of the Spear ship-to-ship missiles rose out of their silos before igniting and gunning a path straight towards the _Kanclers_.

The Spears took a few seconds and impacted their target dead on. The shields flashed, a white bubble embedded with hexagonal panels to absorb the maximum amount of damage. Even though he had completely unharmed the ship, he had its attention and its shield levels at a much lower rate. These advanced systems also took a longer time to recharge as the engines had to work harder.

"Enemy launching torpedoes."

Two plasma torpedoes shot across the space, leaving a trail of white flame behind.

"Collision in ten seconds."

"Commander?" Luke asked worriedly.

"Wait."

"Five seconds!"

"Trip! They're going to hit us!" Drew yelled out.

"All hands brace for impact!" Aegis thumbed the controls and suddenly everyone and everything that wasn't strapped down was violently thrown about.

Trip had tapped the emergency thrusters. Containing trihydride tetrazine and hydrogen peroxide, they allowed the vessel to move omnidirectional. The Ballista had propelled itself up high quite literally a half second before the salvo had found its mark.

"We're clear!"

"Hang on everyone!" Aegis said, "Engines at ninety percent power."

The two plasma torpedoes were guided by a computer and thus arced above the belt to turn around to reacquire their target.

"Torpedoes are coming around!" Tongju reported, "They're ten seconds out."

Trip keyed the throttle and shot forward, intent on heading straight towards the _Kanclers_.

"Danny, prep the slipspace drive for a jump."

"A jump? Where?"

"Anywhere," Aegis said, "Anywhere but here."

Now having executed the loop successfully, the Ballista had come up on the port side of the _Kanclers, _rising above its dorsal side and vanishing right behind.

The shields were still in a weakened state after the Spear missiles had first hit and they were lowered fully to allow the plasma turrets to fire. It was then busy guiding its pair of fish when Aegis had done his loop, allowing the ship's own weapons to hit itself.

Once the _Ballista_ had passed over, the RCS-class cruiser was hit by both torpedoes right at the neck from the bow. The first one had entirely eliminated its shields, while the second tore right into the armor plating, melting through as if it were ice. Smaller explosions resounded throughout the hull and the entire frame shook from the sheer impact.

As Aegis and the Blades went into a slipspace jump, the _Kanclers_ listed for a few moments before the vessel was enveloped in a bright light. Her shields were back online and at full strength. Purple hued flames billowed out from its underside, but amazingly the entire cruiser's hull integrity had held together.

* * *

_**Kanclers**_

"She is not your mate?" Vaal asked. He kept a needler aimed squarely at Chancellor's body as they spoke. It was odd, two species, even after the war were former enemies and weapons drawn at one another, yet talking with an air of caution as if they were foreign exchange students.

"I mated with her of course," Chancellor proudly declared, "However unlike you and most dreaming blokes nowadays, I don't believe in the concept of mates for life. Where's her value when she's no more use to you?"

"Our mates are for life," Vaal coldly reprimanded. He could see why Aegis wasn't particularly happy with his former protégé. Judging from his standpoint, it was more like an outcast who had gotten a lot of revenge and power. He had the option of taking things how he had originally wanted to, but his mind was so consumed on a vendetta that any trace of that aspiration was gone and turned into a dark ambition.

Maybe even an obsession.

"I have never heard of this thing you call divorce. If such an infidelity was committed between partners in a marriage, the shame and dishonor would be unfathomable."

"Hinge-head, the more you mate, the cooler you get."

"I imagine they go through a lot of shame and regret, something that could have been spared. You made them believe that you were the ideal one for them, only to toss them aside like worthless garbage once you've taken what you want. Perhaps Aegis was right about you, being a very greedy, zealous individual full of deceit." Vaal noted, "I should just save him from killing you by doing it myself."

Before he could act, a massive explosion rocked the ship from side to side. While he couldn't see Chancellor, Vaal was thrown about. The motion had tossed him aside as if he were a simple pebble and he tumbled backwards, hitting something hard that caused pain to flare in his back.

He was the first to recover, growling and scooping up the needler and disappearing down the ship's corridor. In the other room he heard Chancellor screaming at his associates likely through a radio.

"Get him! Get him now!"

Alarms blared throughout the ship as he once again activated his camouflage and melted into the shadows. It would take a while longer before someone would notice that he had tampered with it to display images of the places being all clear.

His presence was now known and he knew it was only a matter of time before they found him.

* * *

Arcc knew that his suspicions were correct.

Blindfiring the plasma rifle in the conference room hadn't scored a hit, but his hunch turned out to be true.

Chancellor didn't believe him and was pale like a ghost when he had told him about the encounter with the elite.

Vaal Talam. The name seemed familiar. Although he had never met any individual by that exact name, he had known the lineage for a long time.

Some of the best swordfighters Sanghelios produced and their population was dwindling due to the demands of special warriors. They were prominent in the Vahkai Templar society that sought to keep the customs and traditions of the sangheili to be free of foreign influences.

Now this one was working with the Blades? What were they doing after Chancellor? Was he an agent of the Arbiter? The Vahkai? Jul Mdama? A sleeper for the Servants?

Nothing made sense about his presence or even how he got aboard. Arcc contemplated contacting his partner, a former Field Master in the matter, but decided against it. He had done too much to turn back now.

Rising from his seat, he moved about to begin directing the rest of the crew for repairs. A setback like this would not stop him from completing his mission.

* * *

**Well, another chapter for the books. Things are heating up and the showdown is going to be epic. Next chapter will be the other flashback on how both Aegis and Chancellor came to despise one another.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you all give my writing purpose.**


	23. Backstab I

**UNSC **_**Point of No Return**_

**Location Classified**

**April 5, 2553**

Very few individuals could brag that they had been aboard one of the most secret and advanced ships of humankind. Those that did were not the type to brag either.

The Point, as it was dubbed by ONI members was the size of a Halberd-class destroyer, nearly five hundred meters in length. She was constructed in segments before being assembled together in deep space far from any ventures. It was the standard headquarters for the Office of Naval Intelligence's Section Three, the part of the agency that was dedicated to both decrypting alien technology as well as the operations that were blocked by thousands of firewalls and security measures from access.

Only a few have ever seen the ship and even less had been aboard. Odin's Eye, a conference room at the ship's heart was the most secure room in human space with the Faraday cage blocking all electronic signals. _Point of No Return_ was monitored around the clock by members of all military branches and AIs alike.

Both Trip Aegis and Ethan Hunter Chancellor were silent as they were directed right into the center of Odin's Eye, where across from them sat probably the most powerful and influential person in the UNSC.

Some believed Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky was on her deathbed. She was slight of build and appeared to be nearly a century old, but she had celebrated her ninety-second birthday in February. She had blue eyes that made anyone nervous and anyone knew the amount of power she held could be enough to cross them off, even if it a simple joke was taken the wrong way. It was also rumored that only one person had ever crossed her and lived to tell the tale.

People that got in the way of her ambitions found themselves erased from existence through a sophisticated network of contacts, espionage and intelligence.

"Good morning Agent Aegis," Parangosky curtly greeted. She turned to Chancellor, "Agent Chancellor."

"Morning Admiral," Trip subconsciously adjusted one of the medals on his uniform. She wasn't the biggest person in the room, but he felt as if his and the Admiral's heights had been reversed. She might has well be sitting on a throne above him. Beside him, Chancellor nodded back.

"Operation: BACKSTAB." Parangosky slid a file across the table, "We realized that our attempt to establish an internal conflict with the Sangheili had not been as efficient as I had originally believed. The Arbiter still has control over their homeworld, although he is much weaker than before the battles. I intend to even the odds and give his opponents a chance to strike and deal major damage."

Aegis opened the file and handed a copy over to Chancellor.

"Agent Chancellor has been working with Section Three to establish an invasive AI that is capable of crashing alien ship systems. This virus so to speak can spread through the Arbiter's battle network to other ships, causing havoc to life support, shields, even triggering self-destruct sequences."

At his queue, Ethan removed a data crystal chip and placed it in the center of the table.

"This is it, the first seventh generation AI ever created. When I'm in, the virus can do its magic on the ship within a minute and then it can spread to the other ships nearby in two."

"Wonderful." Parangosky took it between two delicate fingers and held it up to the light. "Is it possible to replicate more?"

"Not with the materials we had back at the shops. It'll have to do for the time being and we'll only have one shot at doing it. However, once I'm back, it'll be my first priority."

"One is all you two need," She set it down, "Good work Agent Chancellor."

Instead of beaming, he nodded to accept the compliment.

"Your vector of entry is the _Hindrance_, a Covenant cruiser currently undergoing repairs in the orbital shipyards. A Kig-Yar shuttle will be smuggling you and the rest of the team aboard. Once onboard, you will need to access the master communications terminal at the bridge and start the overload. From there, once it spreads to the surrounding vessels, you'll extract and head to your predesignated rally point. This will deal a major blow to the Arbiter's naval assets and he could be briefly vulnerable, especially when his reinforcements are elsewhere."

"With all due respect, I personally served alongside sangheili when they came to Earth to help defend it from the Covenant. This can hit home for me. I'm not too keen on turning on people who watched my back in hostile territory."

"I understand your concern Agent Aegis, but we can't treat them as best friends, not after they still have the power to seriously damage the UNSC. Many of them hold the same demeanor towards us. Remember, they might be weak, but so are we."

"Last I remember, Lord Hood is discussing peace with the Arbiter." Aegis tried to find another way to persuade.

"It does not matter what your enemy's intentions are, only their capabilities. Your sentiment is not unnoticed and I'm sure many other humans are grateful towards the sangheili for standing alongside us in our time of need, but now we need to ensure that we are the ones to corner our enemies. Am I clear?"

Aegis looked at her in the eye and it took every amount of effort not to flinch or give in, "Yes Admiral."

"Good. Now onto specifics. Sangheili are very proficient in combat and we cannot rely solely on the element of surprise. Mister Aegis, I've put in your recommendation with the administrators of the Spartan program and they've agreed to augment you in. This way, you will be able to equalize the odds of survival as well as neutralizing threats before they happen." Parangosky handed him a packet of papers, "Here are the terms and conditions, sign at the bottom please."

"You want me to be a Spartan?"

"One of ONI's best can only get better."

Trip slightly noticed that Chancellor's face fell, she made no indication or hint that he was eligible to receive the surgeries. Being on equal footing was what had put the two agents together in such successful careers and he felt like being a Spartan could drive them apart.

He reminded himself that personal feelings towards others was just a sign of weakness in this line of work, if he spent time dwelling on it, it was just going to come back and drag him down.

Taking a pen from the drawer, he scanned the contents for a few minutes and scribbled his signature on the bottom.

She stood up, "Congratulations Spartan Aegis. You two now have work to do. Get it done."

Then the Admiral left the room.

* * *

**Arkhangelsk, Russia, Earth**

**May 20, 2553**

"Ever feel like this is something out of Star Wars?" Chancellor asked as they were walking towards their meeting point.

"What?"

"Star Wars."

"Never heard of it." Aegis said flatly.

"You've never heard of Star Wars?" Chancellor almost laughed out loud, "The stuff that took the world by force, literally!"

"What makes you compare this to some old fictional franchise?"

"Think about it, the Clone wars in the Star Wars universe was a conflict between the Republic and the Separatists. Both of them had considerable backing from Palpatine to make the conflict escalate and last as long as possible. It was a win win for him, since he pretty much controlled both sides, he became Supreme Chancellor and secretly headed the Separatists through his apprentice. The war was essentially a ploy to launch himself into a higher power and rule the galaxy with an iron fist."

Aegis' face was blank, "Okay, so how does that relate to us?"

"Doesn't the Admiral seem like Palpatine?"

"I don't see the connection, but whatever. Isn't that why you were named Chancellor? You'd probably be good at a supervillain."

"Eh next time." He laughed.

Their meeting point was a large warehouse in the working district of the city. Winter still had a firm grip on the northern part of Russia and they wore heavy coats. Snow had fallen the night before and the roads were wet, casting a dreary bland setting.

Trip traveled from the Point to the Spartan facility deep underground on Mars, where he went through three weeks of surgeries, therapy and exercises to cope with his new form.

He had grown a few inches to stand just under seven feet tall and was reported to be over that when he would be upsized when in his MJOLNIR armor.

The procedures he had gotten were quite painful, especially the augmentations. Some parts of it were done while he was unconscious while others kept him from that. It had felt as if someone was grabbing his limbs, tearing through the muscle and twisting all of his bones into unimaginable shapes. He was reluctant to compare it to childbirth due to the backlash on such inquiry.

Then came the therapy. Hours of simple workouts that came a couple days after the augmentations were done. Everything felt as if it was different, him belonging inside someone else's body.

Over time, he got used to the changes and it gave him great advantages that would be put to use in the upcoming operation. It took a couple weeks, but he hooked the hang of things.

Aegis banged on the side door of the warehouse. The area remained silent for a few seconds as they listened. Nobody else was out and about and he heard nothing from inside.

"Not even locked." Chancellor noted.

Aegis nodded at his partner and together they drew their sidearms. His arm opened the door outward and Chancellor entered from the other side, keeping his pistol trained in front as they scanned the entrance.

The interior of the place was empty, save for a few open shipping containers. At the center was a long table with three individuals surrounding it, two men and one woman. On the side were large duffel bags of equipment.

One of the men stepped forward, noticing them enter. He was almost as tall as Aegis and had sandy blond hair with a strong build. One of his hands was close to a holstered M6G pistol. "What do you want?"

"Quoth the Raven," Aegis said the codeword for their clearance.

"Nevermore," The countersign for the clearance was echoed, taken from the famous poem of Edgar Allan Poe.

"Agent Trip Aegis," He made introductions, "Agent Ethan Hunter Chancellor."

At that, the three others suddenly drew their weapons squarely at them.

Chancellor was a bit startled by the move and begun to reach for his own gun.

"Well we have a problem," Sandy haired tall guy declared. He strutted up to Trip and looked him in the eyes with a glare. He was unfazed by it and began to stare back with equal intensity, but taken aback by the sudden hostility.

"What problem?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"I just told you my name," Aegis responded, not aggressively, but enough to get his point across.

"Must be a coincidence."

"Why?"

"I'm Trip Aegis."

* * *

**Wait...what? No better way to open up a flashback. Tel me what ya think.**

**Eon Volume Three is now being written and will likely be released around the time where I'll be ending this one. I'm excited to start, cause it's definitely a fun one!**

**I finally got my hands on Halo: Hunters in the Dark and am about halfway through, it's a wonderful read and I'm happy to see both N'tho and Usze returning and they get a bit of backstory instead of being filler characters to be played in Halo 3. Also neat to see Olympia Vale in there too.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	24. Backstab II

**Arkangelsk, Russia, Earth**

**May 20, 2553**

Tension was so thick in the room you could cut it with a knife. The tall sandy haired man had the barrel of his weapon pointed at Aegis' chest while the other two were ready at a moment's notice to take on Chancellor.

It was a three to two matchup and even with Aegis' augmentation abilities, they were outgunned. Not enough cover. The big guy was large enough that could give Trip a hard time in a fist brawling.

"Easy," Aegis held up his hands in a nonthreatening manner, "We're ONI. Same side right?"

"You guys are ONI?" At the allegation, the other two adjusted their aim a little bit.

"How about this Agent Chancellor," The guy strode up to him as his lackeys took their guns off him. He pointed his pistol straight at his head. Before Ethan could render what could have happened, the man flipped the gun around so that it was now pointing towards him.

"You guys are ONI right? So shoot the real Trip Aegis."

His heart went still. The man was baiting them and there was no way the two of them were going to be able to walk out of the trap they had laid. They knew who the real Trip Aegis was all along.

If he shot the bigger man it would therefore prove that they were not ONI. It was based on the assumption that he was telling the truth. If he shot Aegis, he'd be without his partner.

But something just was not right. The big man had immediately set up another proxy barrier and usually a tension filled scenario was not like this.

This was way different than the holo movies and drama shows he watched. At the same time though, it was very similar.

Chancellor pointed the gun at a surprised Trip and focused in right at the crown of his head. One bullet would splatter his brains all over the warehouse floor. His senior officer would not feel a thing and the death would be swift and merciful.

Aegis on the other hand was ready to defend himself if he was actually contemplating pulling the trigger. His augmented senses were trained on the strength of the finger tightening on the trigger and he could be in motion way before Chancellor could get a shot off.

Then as another surprise, he flipped the gun around again and handed it to the sandy haired guy. He looked surprised at the action.

"If you want me to shoot him, at least make give me a loaded weapon."

He nodded back, "Fair enough, two of you passed the test." Like that, the two others lowered their weapons and Mr. Sandy Hair outstretched his hand, "Spartan Adam Cox, Office of Naval Intelligence Section Three. These here are Agents Wright and Patterson."

After greetings were exchanged, Cox led them to the table. The tension that was in the air a couple minutes ago had diminished.

"OPERATION: BACKSTAB, the Office of Naval Intelligence's newest efforts to destabilize the Swords of Sanghelios. We are to infiltrate the CCS battlecruiser Hindrance and upload a seventh generation AI virus into its systems to cause mass malfunction. The AI would then spread to the other vessels in the Arbiter's possession to initiate a fleet-wide server crash."

"Our point of entry will be a Kig-Yar merchant ship that is delivering supplies to the ship while it is in orbit. From there, we will make our way to the bridge to initiate the overload. In the meantime, Agent Patterson will make contact with the UNSC _Sahara_ to secure our exfil."

"Is the seventh generation AI ready?" Agent Wright asked, she did not bother to look over at everyone else since her weapon cleaning was apparently a higher priority.

"It's ready to go," Chancellor laid down the data crystal chip, "It will be able to bypass the abysmal Covenant cyber security in thirty seconds, provided that there is no security AIs of their own employed."

"We know how many of the ships will be present?"

"_Sahara_ has counted approximately sixteen vessels, mostly frigates and corvettes. Aside from _Hindrance_, there are also a couple of their support ships too."

After the Arbiter's lengthy battle against the Servants of the Abiding Truth, most of his naval forces had been either destroyed or seriously damaged to the point where it could take months to repair. When the Covenant was active, one ship, depending on its class, would likely spend a few days while species of all kinds would work around the clock. Since those resources of materials, labor and just one shipyard that were already overbooked with damaged vessels, it was going to take a lot more time than what people were used to.

So far there were no signs of the _Shadow of Intent_ or the rest of the Retribution Fleet. It was destroyed in battle against the former Covenant, except for the flagship, but the joint task force exercises with the UNSC to repel against pirates and rogue Covenant factions showed that the contingent around the elite's famous flagship had grown once again.

Three of ONI's prowlers were tasked with discreetly following the _Shadow of Intent_ and they lost contact with them in March. Of course the losses were not reported to the rest of the UNSC, but it was likely to show that somehow the elites had obtained a means to detect the sneaky ships.

Best way around that was to destabilize their operating systems and the seventh generation AI that Chancellor had made through all-nighters was the key they might need to successfully pull the operation off. Three prowlers lost. Winter Class, captained by some of ONI's finest were lost to a Covenant carrier.

Shipmaster Rtas Vadum was aware of ONI trailing him and flaunted his ability right in their faces.

This time, it was going to be the Naval Intelligence that would have the last laugh.

"Resistance?"

"That's why you and I were augmented agent Aegis." Cox said, "If anything goes to hell, we're the ones that are going to have to tango with the hinge heads."

"I don't suppose we'll still be having the element of surprise?"

"After that? No." He picked up a small U-shaped purple device and tossed it over, "Type-3 Active Camouflage module, latest version used by the stealth elite teams. It will draw power from our armor, but its use is limited, of course we will be keeping a low profile."

"From there, we will exfil by a docked Phantom, which Agent Patterson will be securing and our exfil point is the _Sahara_, which will be awaiting our arrival around Qikost." Cox looked around, "Did I miss anything?"

When nobody responded, Trip suddenly stepped forward, "Something just doesn't feel right. Too many avenues on where we could be compromised with little room to adjust."

"Which is why we can leave zero margin for error."

"The elites are our allies and they were the ones to help us end the war. Turning on them might not be the best of ideas."

"Parangosky was right," Cox said, "You really do respect the elites a lot."

"The ones that fought beside me have it and causing a fleetwide server crash on their systems is just like declaring the peace between us as invalid."

"We're not going to have a problem with it are we Agent Aegis?" Wright asked in a sly manner.

"No," Aegis shook his head. "It's a new world now and some of our friends are about to become my enemies. Although something like this is not to be taken lightly by me."

"Duly noted," Cox dully said, "Let's all get our gear ready. Shuttle's coming to the airport in an hour to move us to _Sahara_."

While they were examining their equipment, the Spartan had pulled Chancellor aside from the other three for a discreet private conversation.

"I need you to keep an eye on Agent Aegis." He looked back over in case anyone was suspicious about their discussion, "There's something about him I do not trust."

"I trust him," Chancellor stood his ground, "I trust him with my life."

"There's going to be a point where orders are going to conflict with that trust. Agent Aegis has experienced that already and there will be a time where the same will happen to you. The fallout from that might not be optimal for yourself."

* * *

**Even after the standoff, there is still turmoil.**

**So this chapter was short and kind of hard to write. Not my best work.**

**The more Halo 5 stuff I see, the more excited I am on buying it. Now all I need to do is renew my Xbox Live subscription.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	25. Backstab III

**In orbit around Sanghelios, Urs System**

**May 22, 2553**

From afar, the Swords of Sanghelios' main shipyard in Sadibz was thick with smoke. The orbital docking stations were overloaded as they tried to frantically repair the overwhelming amount of damaged ships coming in.

The civil war raging on the planet had not ceased and the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam still held control over the majority of Sanghelios. Many of his own people branded him as a traitor to their beliefs and some of the more radical declared him to be an atheist. Fighting began right after the war against the UNSC ended and given the brutality, it wasn't bound to stop anytime soon.

One month ago, _Shadow of Intent_, the Swords' flagship had been severely damaged when it was ambushed by the Jul 'Mdama's flagship, _Song of Retribution_ and another carrier, _Breath of Annihilation_, along with multiple other vessels. Even outgunned, shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum managed to pull off a brilliant strategy, laying antimatter mines behind his path as he fled, forcing most of the escort vessels to give chase. The feint worked and the mines claimed seven of 'Mdama's most valuable destroyers and cruisers, however the _Shadow of Intent_ was rendered combat ineffective.

The distinctive ship was nowhere to be seen as the Kig-Yar merchant ship drew closer. Upon Parangosky's orders, Aegis and Cox had jumped the crew, eliminating all of them and taking the vessel on its scheduled supply run. Their target, the _Hindrance_ was dead center in the repair yard. The CCS-class cruiser was one of the Arbiter's most powerful vessels and with his flagship down, he needed some of the more valuable assets to be battle ready. 'Mdama and other terror groups were going to strike at any moment and every time he was vulnerable meant his enemies had more opportunities to get footholds against him.

Several of the uniquely shaped blockade runners were also seen. Similar to UNSC attack frigates, they were slightly larger and used as swift striking ships. A small fleet that stood guard over the docks.

All around the station were tiny support ships that had two large blue bubbles on their hulls. Many of them fired off their energy projectors on some of the damaged ships.

Aside from the _Hindrance_, Aegis could see a couple Man-O-Wars, a heavy frigate and a CPV-class destroyer. It was a lot of firepower and it did pain him to see so many ships of their former ally to be in such distress. It was even more bothering that they were about to crash the entire fleet's battlenet and all the effort done by this overworked repair crew would be for nothing.

"Okay, we're clear to check in." Wright's voice came over the speakers, "Crew's waiting on the station to begin offloading supplies. We'll hold here and ready for the transfer into _Hindrance_."

A chorus of affirms came from the other four ONI Agents. They surrounded a table, loading weapons and giving their gear one last checkup.

"Everyone good?"

"Yeah."

"Coupling with the station confirmed," Wright said, "Initiating pressure equalization and shutting off engine."

"I hope you complied with the air traffic control," Cox added, "Anything erratic from Kig-Yar spacemanship could arouse suspicion."

"Oh relax," Chancellor chided as he put on his helmet, "It's not like their expecting a bunch of humans to fly a Covenant ship like a pro."

"Always the possibility."

"So serious," Inside his headgear, the young agent rolled his eyes.

"Cargo door's opening."

"Okay, get in the crate."

"I finished the touches. This one has priority loading as plasma conduits for the _Hindrance_."

"Perfect," Aegis confirmed, "We're set to be the first ones onboard."

No sooner had he said that, they all heard a clamping sound as one of the cargo tugs grabbed ahold of their container. Cox peered through his smartlink cameras to the outside.

The crate was just leaving the ship and there was an audible hiss inside as the tug had left the pressurized atmosphere and made the short trip in space towards the _Hindrance_.

As they drew closer to the cruiser, they got a real look at how badly the ship had been damaged. Her once elegant purple plating was scorched and the grooved linings atop the dorsal section seemed to be burned away. Trip was no forensic expert, but it appeared that the ship was attacked from above by a bombardment of plasma torpedoes which breached the shield to damage the ship's starboard side.

The support ships hovering over were firing off their projectors at damaged sections of the hull. Parts of the top looked new in armor plating and the glassing beams melted the edges and fused them together to make it a full section that roughly resembled an insect carapace.

"Heh, we're carrying a little more of a surprise than replacement parts," Chancellor snickered. "What about the merchant ship?"

"Set to plot a course to the rendezvous point once we've completed the overload," Cox said, "If all goes well, Wright can dock in the _Hindrance_'s bay and get us out quickly."

"Resistance is going to be light," Patterson added, "Mostly maintenance crew, meaning a lot of grunts."

The clamp on the container released and shuffling outside could be heard.

"Move it now!" A guttural sangheili was commanding in the bay, most likely to unggoy, "Get those conduits unloaded!"

They heard the main door become unlatched and the agents all vanished into the shadows.

A pair of unggoy waddled in chattering to themselves in their normal squeaky voices. They went right to the nearest crates and hefted them up, exiting the front and chattering to one another.

In their active camouflage, Aegis and Cox slowly proceeded outside. While in the box, they kept their rifles trained on the two grunts and kept an eye on their motion trackers.

Aside from the grunts, there were four more pings, all in front. The sangheili was dressed in the basic armor of a minor domo and they also saw two more grunts securing the tug inside the hangar bay. The supervisor did not look happy.

"We got contacts," Cox stated the obvious, "We kill that elite, then the grunts will be panicked and confused."

"We could," Aegis agreed, "But all it would take is one to set off an alarm and this mission is over."

"We don't and they'll spot Chancellor and Patterson."

"Okay, so then what's the plan?"

"We'll have to take them out. You ready to put your Spartan skills to the test?"

Cox signaled Aegis to the left and he approached from the dockmaster's rear. He flashed a green light and Aegis aimed at the two grunts clustered together and squeezed the trigger.

Muffled shots from the suppressor on his MA5 rifle peppered the grunts' back and both toppled over to the ground. At the same time, Cox had wrestled the elite onto the ground and twisted his body, while straddling the larger frame. The spine snapped with an audible pop.

That left the two grunts carrying the crates. They had heard the gunshots, but it took them time to drop their cargo without it going on their toes. Just as they set it back down, two pistols opened fire, killing them as well.

Chancellor and Patterson held their smoking weapons as they exited the crate.

"All clear."

"Move up."

They quickly found a central terminal on the upper levels of the cruiser and accessed the terminals.

"Okay," Chancellor pushed a few of the blue holographic buttons, "Crew clocked in right now are a few dozen elites and maybe a hundred grunts and jackals. There are some armed personnel onboard too for regular security patrols. If we can get to the bridge, I can be able to triangulate their locations from their IDs."

"Good work. Let's move."

Through active camouflage, Aegis and Cox guided the other two down the winding corridors. Much of the ship seemed quite damaged with sparks flying from walls and the shuffling of metal that had been jarred on whatever attack it had sustained.

The former had been on a CCS-class cruiser once and knew the layout across the fleet on all vessels were the same. The bridge was actually located at the center of the ship rather than the front. Most Covenant ships were designed like this to throw off their opponents from targeting a certain part of the ship to disable its command center. This also served a double purpose for protection.

The control room was locked down, only giving access to officers with credentials via biometrics or on permission from the shipmaster or the executive officer.

This time, the door was open and only a few crewmembers were present. A couple sangheili and few unggoy were about. In the center was the set of terminals where the officers would control the ship's actions. Aegis saw no sign of any gold armored elite to signify the shipmaster. Perhaps he was away.

Going on the offensive, Aegis tossed a live grenade at the nearest group of grunts, sending them flying. At the same time, Cox headed for the center ramp. The two elites had just been surprised at Aegis' actions, they failed to see the other Spartan.

Firing a hail of bullets, they cut through the first bridge officer's shields and he smashed the stock of the rifle into the alien's skull.

The second elite had his plasma pistol in hand and began firing back at the intruder, Aegis and Chancellor shifted their fire and the rounds punched through the armor. With no options left, the elite roared, throwing his arms up in anger. Ethan took the opportunity to place a round straight through its head.

"Bridge secure,"

"Alright, lock down the bridge." The Spartan ordered, "We're going to need some time to initiate the overload."

Five minutes later, the Spartans stood at the bottom of the bridge ramp as Chancellor approached the main consoles. From here, his seventh-generation AI would wreck the Swords of Sanghelios fleets and complete his mission. Everything worked for BACKSTAB was just a half hour away from being over and all the effort would be worth it.

"Okay," He breathed, sliding out the data crystal chip into his hand, "Here I go."

* * *

**So what is going to happen?**

**I've also started on the Halo Fanon wiki under the same name. Much of the content of both the Blades and Eon is going there and there's even part of Eon that I will probably not be putting out on here.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	26. Backstab IV

**Covenant Cruiser **_**Hindrance**_**, Orbiting Sanghelios**

**May 22, 2553**

This was it.

The moment Chancellor's work could pay off in serious dividends and get himself a gold star and a jumpstart onto his new lucrative career within the Naval Intelligence.

The main terminal would send his virulent AI to overload all the server networks on the Sangheili battlenet and utterly crash the entire fleet without firing a single MAC or nuke.

Ethan felt a pang of regret for his AI friend. It had not spoken to anyone nor did it form a preferred avatar. All he knew about it was that his work was going to greatly benefit humanity. This AI was the most advanced of its kind and he was pretty sure that he outshone Dr. Halsey and her creation of Cortana. While the digital companion of the Master Chief was designed for a variety of tasks especially software infiltration, Chancellor's seventh gen was specifically made for just that purpose.

Maybe all the effort was put into that, instead of a simple avatar or voice. He didn't even know if it was a male or female programmed one.

Cortana had been able to bypass Covenant security well. Chancellor claimed that his creation could cut that time in half. Now it was time to put that to the test.

Loud banging on the doors cut him out of his thoughts as a low rumble seemed to vibrate off the entire hull of the ship. The hitting started again right afterwards.

"Hunters!" Cox said, "Alright kid, do your thing!"

He slid a clip in his assault rifle and kept it pointed at the edge of the door, nearby Aegis and Wright did the same.

The odds of having two Spartans and an agent against enraged hunters and more crew was not a warm welcome.

Chancellor slid his data crystal chip into the slot. Linking it up to his HUD, he began the process.

The AI worked quickly, bypassing the rather primitive Covenant cyber defenses and accessing their primary network. Within seconds, data began to scroll through his feed.

He hit several commands on the bridge, opening up channels to the nearby docked ships. The AI followed him, breaking firewalls and seizing control of their functions.

From the console and with his creation's reach, Chancellor could destabilize the entire Swords of Sanghelios' fleet with just a few keystrokes.

The banging on the doors brought him back to reality at what he needed to be done. Through the translation software, parts of the consoles lit up to be highlighted to initiate.

Remotely, the AI would then overload all the marked ship's reactors, thus taking them out without the use of ship-to-ship weapons. From here on out, there would be no turning back and somehow he didn't fancy the fact that he could be the one to look at who destroyed the alliance between the two species.

Was there ever really an alliance in the first place?

It felt more like a mutual agreement and having to fight alongside a race that spearheaded the genocide of your own was not comforting to either party. Still, Chancellor was quite impressed at how the two sides worked together to stop both the Covenant and the Flood, ending the war. Now here the Arbiter was trying to rebuild his planet in the midst of a rebellion who resented humanity and basically why they were here in the first place.

Tapping a few of the controls, the AI vanished before reappearing. Warnings of errors flashed through his screen.

"Shit."

The AI suddenly went off on its own, through his point of view, headed straight towards the Shadow of Intent. The only problem was that the Shadow's security was somehow durable enough to remain sealed.

How was it possible? Chancellor's AI was designed to penetrate Covenant security systems so either it malfunctioned or their flagship had stronger firewalls than he had expected.

He tried another trick, quickly typing in commands.

UNABLE TO LOCATE TARGET

The attempt failed. Even worse would be that soon enough, the Swords would find out about the attempted cyberattack if even one ship survived.

So either he had to destroy them all, or he had to abort the operation.

"Guys, the AI's unable to find the Shadow and her fleet."

"Keep trying."

"Sir, I already did. They're going to be alerted to our attempted hack any minute."

Cox sighed...before removing his sidearm to point it at Chancellor's head. "Then we need to change it to asset denial."

"Wait?" Chancellor realized that he was the one getting killed, "What?"

"Nothing personal kid," The Spartan flatly stated, "But the Swords can still get secrets if I'm dead."

He was tightening his finger on the trigger when he sensed a second barrel of a pistol against the side of his head.

"Maybe we just need to change it to two assets denied,"

"Funny," Cox spat, "Always thought the two of you were in on it together."

"Together is not something we do," Aegis shot back, "We're a team here and team members don't turn on one another."

"This situation is sensitive and turning against you two might be for the better."

Cox made to pull the trigger.

Just as Aegis reached out, forcefully throwing Chancellor out of the way as the bullet pierced the console, causing sparks to dance across its surface.

Cox retaliated with a punch as Aegis dodged, grabbing his wrist and twisting it into a lock. However the other Spartan moved his hand, overpowering both of Aegis' to bring him to the floor.

He reared back for a punch when Trip shifted his head sideways, barely avoiding the fist. Grabbing it with his hand, he shifted his legs to encircle the neck.

Somehow, Cox contorted his body to avoid Trip's punch and mysteriously slipped out of his grasp. As Aegis was getting to his feet, he lashed out with a roundhouse, connecting with his side and barely managing to avoid a successive kick.

At that moment, a deafening screech of metal resonated from the end of the bridge. The hunters on the other side gave a triumphant growl as Agent Wright fired upon the armored behemoths.

The bullets bounced right off, even though he was aiming straight towards their armor gaps. One of them turned, lighting up his arm and shooting a single burst.

Wright was hit straight in the chest and it exploded in a giant green flash that eventually faded with him nowhere seen.

As soon as Aegis had started to engage Cox, Chancellor did his best to run and escape, thankfully he managed to evade the hunters to take cover behind one of the columns.

Aegis had found himself fighting less than optimal against the larger Spartan. The other one was determined to finish him off. Having him with his arms behind his back and trying to suffocate him with the other arm was not a smart idea, but every time he squirmed and tried to break free, it was like he anticipated his every move.

Then the place began to rumble and the metal floor vibrated….no the entire ship began to vibrate as the tremors seemed to shake every tissue in his body.

An explosion suddenly flashed from the other side of the bridge, consuming the hunters as Cox suddenly loosened his grip.

Trip wasted no time wrapping his hands around the other Spartan's neck and wrenching it sideways, hearing a satisfying snap. Surprisingly, the augmented body gave way just as easily as anyone else whose spine he had severed in the past.

Fire suddenly erupted from the side as he felt the entire floor begin to tilt downwards at a thirty degree angle. Things came tumbling towards him. Cox's corpse, the hunters and he saw Chancellor find grip on one of the pillars.

Ethan suddenly lost his own footing and slid along the smooth surface of the floor.

With precision, Trip extended his arm out and lunged out.

He closed in on Chancellor, his fingers brushing his outstretched hand.

Just as another explosion rocked the ship and they both fell through the open entrance.

One of the hunters blocked his view of Chancellor as he disappeared into the darkness below and impacted him full force in the chest.

Along with his shields depleted, Trip was knocked out cold.

* * *

Aegis wearily opened his eyes and suddenly became alert, realizing that he was no longer on the _Hindrance_. He tried to lift his arm up, but found something keeping it tied down.

Looking over, a large energy chain was cuffed right over his MJOLNIR armor, preventing either of his arms from moving. His legs were not bound and a small purple machine had a couple of tubes attached to his shoulders. The bed emitted a blue glow over the room, using repulsors to easily counter the weight of his half ton armor.

"You're awake," A deep voice commented from his right.

A sangheili donning the blue ranger armor with the bulbous visor strode in front of him. He turned away to inspect the machine.

"Your vitals are looking way better," The elite strode over, "This may hurt."

Before Trip could comprehend what was going on, his hand grabbed the tubes and removed the needles. Aegis heeded the warning, but couldn't stop the hiss escaping his lips.

At the end of those tubes were needles that were used to puncture his undersuit and giving vitality fluids.

"You lost a lot of energy when we found you, however you are quite hardy for a human."

"Where am I?" Aegis asked.

"Hospitality Wing. Vadam Keep."

Trip sort of breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't one of those remnant groups that killed humans on sight. Then again, being ONI and trying to destroy the Arbiter's assets probably wouldn't make him any popular with the sangheili anyway.

"Come," The ranger moved to his side and unlocked the bonds. "Walk with me. The Arbiter wants to have a word with you."

Aegis moved his arms and fingers before cautiously standing up. The elite did nothing to harm him and as far as he knew, had no intention of doing so. He couldn't read their facial expressions and even if, it was impossible due to the visor concealing the man's face.

Gesturing him to lead the way, Trip followed him out into a warm looking hallway. The walls and floor were made with stone, but their footsteps were almost noiseless as they made their way through the halls.

The passage opened up and Aegis saw the Vadam Keep for the first time. It was enormous with multiple structures around a castle-like fortress. Large walls surrounded it and in the background to his right was a mountain whose top he was unable to see. It seemed to stretch and go on past the clouds hanging.

He noticed a lot of military hardware too. Large T-38 Tyrant antiaircraft artillery were beside the castle and he could see more of them up the slopes of the mountain. Along the walls of the keep were Shade turrets and several of the towers had guard posts with sniper rifles. Banshees patrolled around the skies in groups of three.

Beside the keep were more buildings that were dome shaped and also made of the stony material and it was all a combination of noise as the rest of the population in the state were going about doing their normal activities.

The castle itself was damaged. Large parts of it seemed to be burned off in some places, most likely artillery. Dark scorch marks marred the beautiful architecture and Aegis saw some construction efforts in the rest of the city, a sign that their civil war had destroyed part of the settlement structures.

"I never knew it was this bad," Aegis said out loud.

"You're a funny one," The ranger replied, "There is no need to maintain your façade. We already know why you are here."

They entered the main section of the keep through a bridge that spanned a massive waterfall beside the mountain.

Inside it was lavishly decorated with banners, statues lining the sides and even the columns supporting the roof were carved, decorations with incredible details.

Aegis thought he might be in a renaissance period had it not been for the presence of the sangheili. Their architecture in the fortress was vastly different from the smooth, insectoid appearance of their bases and warships.

Fellow sangheili gave the ranger a nod or a greeting phrase in the alien language. Aegis found out his translation software in the armor was disabled, so he had no idea what _dis faskil_ meant.

So he decided to ask.

"What does _dis faskil_ mean?"

"In the human tongue, it means pleasant day, or a way us Vadams greet one another."

"For a sangheili you do speak good English." He admitted.

The ranger nodded proudly, "I served with the Ministry of Foresight, with overseeing intelligence, which did require a grasp on human languages."

"Humans speak over a hundred different languages, but english is the basic."

"Je vois, mon ami."

Aegis didn't know what to be surprised more about. The fact that this elite spoke French or that he was just called as a friend.

"I believe it's called French?"

"Yes."

"I know both English and French, then of course my own tongue. Right this way."

The ranger waved to one of the doors and it noiselessly opened. At the end was a large balcony that overlooked the city as well as the main grounds for the keep. Below them the waterfall he saw earlier roared down the Cliffside to empty in a lake. At the shores of the lake, he could see several boats with fishing nets cast out and even a group of smaller sangheili, most likely children playing at the riverbank.

"Wait here." The ranger gave a brief bow and then exited the room.

The center of the place was a conference table with a holotank. Also visible was a locker with several weapons; Covenant carbines and plasma pistols inside. However they seemed to be sealed with a blue barrier.

"Things change with boundaries and morals,"

Aegis turned and saw a different sangheili accompany the new voice. Unlike the ranger, this one was slightly taller with glittering golden armor all along his body and a headdress that made him look way taller.

Still, the elite towered over the Spartan and his eyes searched for his behind the visor.

"The civil war here on Sanghelios has brought ample amounts of devastation to my state. Yet I hope my keep has provided enough hospitality to your liking."

Trip knew this guy needed no introduction. This was him…the arbiter…Thel 'Vadam, the one responsible for the death of the Covenant and partner to the Master Chief during the final days of the war.

"And yet here are humans, wrecking more havoc to my ships and killing my people." The Arbiter walked over to his side, with heavy footsteps that served its purpose to intimidate. Aegis felt a little uneasy in his presence.

"Spartan, the acts you have seemingly done against my government can be considered acts of war. Both you and I know that in this situation, this is no time to turn on our allies."

Arbiter leaned forward, "Having something like this revealed to the public is grounds for execution and had this gone to knowledge by my people, I would have discarded you long ago. However, I am curious to know why you were sent to sabotage my ships."

"Arbiter, I fought alongside you and your people at the Ark," Aegis said, "I watched their backs and they watched mine. It was not my call to undertake this mission."

"Hmm," Vadam nodded, "Is it the work of your ONI?"

When Trip didn't answer, he moved a hand towards the energy sword clipped to his belt, "Do not lie to me Spartan."

"I tell you the truth, ONI will kill me."

"You don't tell me the truth and I could kill you just as easily as the Prophet of the same name."

Aegis was skeptical, knowing that the Arbiter wasn't stupid. He could use the intelligence gained here to threaten to break the peace the two species had worked to establish. "How do I know you won't use what I give you against humanity?"

The Arbiter paused, "What we say in this room stays between the two of us. I need the information disclosed to prevent it from being leaked out to my enemies." When Aegis didn't look convinced he added, "Your presence here is secret. Only a handful of my cabinet is aware that a human is within these walls."

"I guess I am spared on your end?"

"This is what I will do," Thel looked over at him with his piercing orange eyes, "I will drop you off at the UNSC embassy here in Vadam where you will be allowed to return to human space. There you will be debriefed by ONI and will not speak of anything that transpired here."

"Fair enough," And with that Aegis gave him everything. Although he didn't need to know, Arbiter was aware of the attempted cyberattack on the _Shadow of Intent_, which was out of the system and miraculously unaffected along with its fleet. However the operation still was partially a success, as many of the Arbiter's fleet guarding Sanghelios were destroyed or even further disabled. The AI had compiled together a list of ships targeted and Aegis gave it all up.

When he was done, he forced himself to ask for Chancellor's safety. "Did you rescue anyone else besides me?"

Arbiter shook his head, "You were the only one we found Spartan. Now, I am giving you an honorable opportunity to redeem yourself."

"Thank you Arbiter."

"Understand that if we are in this situation again, I will not be so courteous as I am today." Thel stood up and extended his hand, "Safe journeys. I have arranged for a Phantom to pick you up on the bridge you crossed earlier. It will take you to the embassy and should be arriving any minute."

* * *

**So he got a free pass. But Chancellor disappears and he's now back for revenge for Aegis abandoning him.**

**I finally got Halo 5: Guardians and have been playing more than I should be, but it's so addicting especially Warzone! Completed it on Legendary too and that was also a tough ride.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	27. Finale I

**UNSC **_**Ballista**_

**Orbiting Earth**

**November 7, 2558**

"So what happened to him?"

"The Swords searched for him, but couldn't find anyone else but me."

"Then why is he after us?"

"Something changed inside him after that day," Trip said, "I tried my best to rescue at least the both of us so we'd have a fighting chance, but there was none to begin with. Either he was captured by a remnant group not allied to the UNSC or he gained contempt on his own."

"You were debriefed by ONI and Parangosky. What did she ask?"

"She asked if I finished the mission and I said I did. All targets destroyed and all other assets lost."

"And she believed you?" Besides the _Hindrance_, Chancellor's AI had abruptly aborted its hacking run once the cruiser was destroyed.

"Didn't have much of a choice. She didn't find out but it is possible Osman did."

"Then what do we do?" Drew asked.

"We hunt him down."

"You sure about that?" This came from Leah, "We may have to hurt him and if you point the gun at his head in the future, will you be able to pull the trigger?"

Trip knew this was sort of a test to see if he was willing to go through with this. "Chancellor already tried to kill us. He's not the man I used to know."

That was as close as they were going to get from a "yes"

* * *

Aegis was in his shower, letting the water run down his back. The skin was beginning to turn pink as the temperature was just below scalding.

He was aware of his compad ringing as he shut off the water. Grabbing a towel, he wrapped it around his waist and answered, slipping the mini computer onto his wrist and holding it perpendicular to his face.

"This is Aegis."

"Trip!" He recognized Jessica Hall's voice on the other line.

"Hi Jessica," Aegis couldn't help the smile brought to his face, "What's going on?"

"Trip, I have some news. But I'd like to share it in person. Are you free?"

"Um sure," Aegis was a little worried. Was she pregnant with his child? It wasn't possible, but the thought tugged at his mind. "I just got back to Earth a couple hours ago. I can be at your house later today."

"Sure."

* * *

**Key West, Florida, URNA, Earth**

"Hi," Trip and Jessica greeted one another, giving a chaste kiss. He was about to ask about the elephant in the room when excited squeals came from the front of her house and the rapid moving legs of Jeremy and Sophie ran over, wrapping their arms around his legs and squeezing as hard as possible. Also notable was that her smile had been forced, not the genuine one he normally saw on her.

"Hey guys," Aegis' hands reached out and he began to tickle their bellies, causing them to have a giggling fit, "Why don't you go and play for a minute? I'll be right there."

Both of them nodded and took off back inside.

"What's going on?" Aegis asked as they strode along the surf behind her house.

Jessica had tears straining her face and she sniffled, "Skye…Skye…He broke up with me. It's only been a week, but I thought it was going to happen. The paperwork to adopt Jeremy and Sophie were finished yesterday and then last night he called to say that it was over,"

She continued to sob, so Aegis took her in his arms, gently stroking her hair. As much as he wanted to get Chancellor, his family came first and he considered Jessica, Jeremy and Sophie family as much as the rest of his crew.

"Did he say anything on why?"

"No. He just called and cut it off like it was nothing!"

Aegis felt anger fill his body. When he initially told him not to hurt Jessica, it was clear he had violated that promise. Skye had seemed like an honorable man, so Aegis was bound to get to the bottom of whatever this was. If he thought it would go unanswered, it was a big mistake.

* * *

Calls to Skye's business gave him no results. The receptionist told him that he was not in yet, but offered to inform him about the call once he arrived. Aegis declined, instead heading to the place he knew Skye would be.

Rapping his knuckles on his place, Aegis waited outside.

The lock turned and Skye opened the door. He looked disheveled, his beard looking like it hadn't been shaved that morning, clothes that looked like he had slept in them and his eyes were reddened.

"Trip…" He breathed, "This isn't a good time."

"Why?" His question was simple.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Aegis was dead serious, "Why did you break up with Jessica?"

"I guess you've seen her huh?"

"I told you not to hurt her. And you did anyway. I want to know why."

Skye couldn't help but look away. Shame was all over his face.

"Cut the bullshit Skye," Trip circled around again, "I'm not leaving until I get the answer."

"You told me not to hurt her, but that's what I'm doing. Maybe it's bad now, but it could get a whole lot worse."

"Explain,"

"You're right. I wanted more than anything to marry Jessica and be a family with the kids. Yesterday we got all the adoption papers filled out and I get a call, from an anonymous person saying that she knew my name and had a sex tape of me and an underage minor. If I don't pay two hundred thousand credits, it will get released."

"You could just as easily pay it off and keep things quiet," Aegis said, "Why did you have to put her through all the turmoil?"

"It'll ruin my reputation. I know guys in the League who had their careers ruined because some asshole makes an unproven accusation. It might get overturned or dismissed charges but it follows them around no matter where they go. Many of them had their wives or girlfriends leave because some groupie claimed they had a one-night stand with them at a nightclub."

"Did you?"

"I'm not saying that I didn't."

"So it is possible?"

"Could be," Skye put his head down, "Even if I end up paying it off and it gets released, do you really think Jessica would forgive me? I'd screw up our lives. She wouldn't let the kids in my sight and the adoption is ruined. Jeremy and Sophie would have to go back to foster care."

"When are you supposed to pay her off?"

"Tonight, at my restaurant."

"What if I can help?" Aegis offered.

"What? I can't ask you that!"

"That's why I asked. You realize that once you make this payoff, they're just going to keep coming back with more blackmailing. Wouldn't it be better off to end it now?"

Skye nodded, "Jessica and the kids are everything to me. I don't care about whatever happens to myself."

"Good," Aegis put his hands on the other man's shoulders, "This is what you're gonna do; you're going to shave, clean yourself up and meet me in your kitchen." He smiled, "I have a plan."

* * *

Later, Trip, Conan Pyra, Leah Roush and Drew gathered to meet Skye in his kitchen. Computer tablets were propped up and the team began to put their plan together.

"Okay, we're going to post positions as patrons in Skye's restaurant here and here. Skye will make the payoff here," Aegis pointed to a diagram of the restaurant, "And Drew will be monitoring surveillance."

"And we'll be adding tracker bugs to both her and the credits in case we have another player. Once we identify them all, we do a swift sweep and clear."

"Wait you're going to kill them?" Skye was a bit appalled by that.

Aegis shook his head grinning, "A court like this would be bad for Skye and could cost Jessica the adoption. Nah, we'll just give them a good old fashioned scare." He turned to Skye, "Does this all sound good to you?"

"Whatever gets me my life back with Jessica and the kids." He sighed, "Even if we need rocket launchers."

"I brought one of the 57s in the truck, in case that does happen." Conan said to capitalize on that.

* * *

That evening, Skye's boat was a hive of activity. Welcoming music wafted from the pier where it was moored and Aegis rolled his car up to the valet, handing him the keys before moving to the shotgun seat and helping a rather lavishly dressed Leah Roush out. Her mother Julia also volunteered to join the case, in the event they needed some extra eyes. Drew was more than happy to accept her as a date for the evening.

Trip was dressed in a black suit with a silver bowtie while Leah had a sparkling pink dress that was sleeveless. Her dark hair fell down past her shoulders and she had done a little bit of makeup, much to her chagrin to accent her assets.

He looped his arm around hers and they entered the restaurant.

"I got full surveillance," Pyra said through the team's earpieces using the security codes Skye gave him, "I can see everyone in the boat and those approaching."

"Got it," Aegis turned to Leah, "You look very ravishing tonight."

"Thanks," Leah couldn't help but feel a fluttering sensation in her stomach. She still threw him an admiring glance, suddenly aware of all the different feelings harbored towards her boss. "Although I cannot wait until I can put my cabin slippers back on. No idea how much longer I can stand being in high heels."

"Makes you look all the better."

"If the two of you are going to flirt anymore, I'm muting you both," Drew grumbled, "Anyway, Ms. Roush and I are in position at the center area. We have eyes on Skye."

"Drew!" Julia scolded, with it being heard over the earpieces, "I've already told you to call me Julia!"

"Sorry about that ma'am." Rayson mentally slapped himself after letting a lifetime of habit in the armed forces get him again.

Aegis and Leah were escorted to one of the tables that were at the back of the room, but it was on a highrise that allowed both of them to see the entire area. This way at least one of them would be able to see the blackmailer when she arrived. Directly to their left was Skye, a few tables down, sitting alone with an appetizer that was just nibbled.

Taking a look around, neither could recognize anyone and most other people were concentrating on his or her dinner. During their walk, a few men eyed Leah as she passed, but nobody stood out.

Being the chivalrous gentlemen he was, Trip pulled out the char allowing his accomplice to sit down before pushing her in and taking a seat himself.

"What can I get for you two to drink?" The waiter asked.

"Wine. Uh…" Aegis' eyes scanned the menus, "We'll both have some of the Cabernet."

"At once."

When he had left, the two of them looked back at one another.

"Place is having excellent business. Skye says it's like this almost every day."

"I'm surprised that it hasn't been nominated in a magazine."

"From what I heard, you intelligence analysts get a way better chow than most of us grunts,"

"You bet," Leah chuckled, "Not anything that was out of an MRE or rehydrated. Straight up fresh food."

"That's part of the perks of being in ONI too. You actually eat real food instead of dysentery stew."

"Things were rough with ONI when you two parted ways?"

"Parangosky wasn't too thrilled at having one of her star agents leaving in the aftermath of BACKSTAB, but she was optimistic on what the we as the Blades could give in new possibilities. In essence, the concept of our company and its operations outweighed the cons. The Agency could always get more agents to replace me. And to stay on top of the game, I went across the colony network to find the best of the best in their jobs. Which is what led me to you," Trip smiled, "By the way, have I told you that you look absolutely gorgeous in that dress?"

Leah's blush from the remark was interrupted by the sound of groaning.

"Please somebody kill me now," Drew said over their earpieces, "Leah why do you let this sap get under your skin like that? Seriously, if Trip's going to talk like this to every beautiful woman he meets, why the hell isn't he getting laid every night?"

Laughter came across everyone listening in.

Their drinks arrived and they placed their orders, which came out quite quickly. As they ate, they checked the time. It was almost time for the blackmailer to appear.

Trip saw her first. She was alone and had long blonde hair. Her dress made it seem like she was just another diner, but the fact her eyes lit up when she saw Skye and started to move to him. As she walked over, her eyes began to scan around for suspicious activity.

Aegis did one thing he knew could escape her notice.

"Make it good," He whispered to Leah. His hands came out and he cupped her cheek to give her a gentle kiss. Out of the corner of his eye the woman looked past them before turning her attention to Skye. The two of them were too busy buried in each other's faces to attract attention.

As he parted, Leah was trying her best to get her breathing back under control.

"I saw that," Julia's stern voice came over their earpieces, "Mister Aegis, you and I are going to have a long talk once this is over."

As they continued to eat, Skye was starting to get uneasy about the entire situation. Drew had mic'd him up and he was following the script perfectly.

"How do I know you have any evidence? And what's stopping you from coming back for more once I pay this off?"

The woman gave a throaty chuckle, "Back in your glory days you were quite the life of the party. I'm surprised you don't remember me."

"I don't."

"Well the fact that you're here means that it's enough to convince you to take action. Either way it's your choice whether you believe it or not. Now if you don't pay it off, there are many places that would love to get their hands on a juicy affair like this. You might still have your money, but the reputation will be gone." She gestured to the entire restaurant, "And you don't want some great thing like this to suffer do you?"

Skye shook his head, "Fine."

"I'm up," Drew said, gesturing to Julia. The "couple" walked over to their table.

"Thanks for the dinner tonight Skye," He wrapped an arm around him, "And the girls will really appreciate the donation."

"Of course," The former gravball player smiled, "You two enjoy the rest of your night."

While Drew was holding the tables occupant's attention, Julia had slipped a listening and tracking device into the woman's purse, which sat at her side.

"And the girls are more than happy to get new toys thanks to Skye here," His lie continued, "Well, I'll leave you two alone." Once they were out of the restaurant Drew reported in, "Bug's in place."

"Copy that."

Skye removed one of the credit chips that had a pre-deposit of the ransom money and slid it over. The woman took out her compad and scanned it. Satisfied that it wasn't tampered and enough, she revealed a thumb drive. Everyone watched as she then stood up and promptly left the boat.

Trip paid the bill before leaving with Leah in pursuit.

"I'm en route," Conan Pyra said over the comms, "Both tracker chips are confirmed to be heading in the same direction. Ready for an intercept on your go."

Aegis started the engine and drove down the street.

"Shame we didn't make it to dessert."

Ten minutes later, Pyra had relayed their position to a motel about a mile away from Skye's boat. He was watching the back of the suite and reported that neither trackers have moved ever since it arrived at the place.

Parking in front of the suites, Aegis and Leah got out opening the trunk. He slid on an armored vest and retrieved his A9 as Leah, still in her dress took out an M395 DMR to cover the front.

Aegis saw her move to one of the rooms and gave away the number to his team.

"I'm moving in." Aegis hustled up the steps before stacking beside the doorway.

"In position on the other side,"

"Get ready…Go!"

At once, the two men from opposite ends kicked in the doors, sweeping the entire area. There was a shriek as the woman who had come to take the money from Skye was being pinned and bound by Pyra. Aegis came face to face with another woman about the same age but with brown hair.

"Freeze!" He demanded, leveling his pistol, "Don't you move." He used some wire to bound her arms and then the two Spartans sat both of them on the bed. They stared back bewildered and ashamed.

"You!" Blonde directed her anger at Trip, "You were on that boat, spying on me!"

"You're going to tell me why you targeted Skye right now or I'm turning both of you to the police."

"Why?"

"Blackmail is a serious crime and it means years of jail time."

"Fine! We thought we needed some creds to start a new life and he seemed like an easy target! The tape isn't even him, it just looks like it from far away." She was avoiding eye contact with him, "We just figured he'd do a payoff to make it all go away, even if it wasn't real."

Aegis sighed, "This is what I'm going to do with you two. I'm gonna give you ten minutes to pack your bags and you're taking the next flight to wherever the hell you want and I'm sending my friend at the RSTA your IDs and both of you are going to be on the watch-list for traveling. Now you will not be able to fly anywhere within here to the Outer Colonies without security asking you questions. And you will not come back to Miami or Key West again. I hear either of you returning to cause chaos for me or any of my associates, then prison will be the least of your problems."

Blonde looked like she wanted to protest but Aegis had none of it, "You want to try and challenge me? I've got eyes and ears everywhere and have the possibility of making both your lives very very miserable. I'm giving you both a free pass to keep your noses clean from here on out. Am I clear?"

Both of them kept their heads down but nodded.

"Good." Aegis said scooping up the credit chip Skye had paid, "Ten minutes to pack everything."

* * *

**Now back to taking down Chancellor after cleaning up family matters.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	28. Finale II

**City of Duluth, Minnesota, URNA**

**November 7, 2558**

Staring at the Chancellor family estate brought back many memories for Ethan.

Some good, but even more bad.

Years had passed since he was no longer considered part of the family and now his eldest brother Arnold inherited their million dollar house that served as both a retreat from their busy life in Minneapolis.

Arnold sent his younger brother Keith into the hospital and in this very same house was where Ethan tried to seek vengeance for him.

He was dressed casually, with jeans and a gray hoodie bought in a clothes shop. All part of his plan to retaliate at ONI, but this matter was much more personal.

Flashbacks continued of fists beating both him and his little brother. Arnold, Brock and Faith, his other brother and sister respectively jeered him on. It had been sort of a rite of passage in his family line that the elder siblings would pick on the younger ones to "toughen" them up by his father's words. Their mother was almost oblivious to the ordeal and his father openly encouraged it.

Siblings were supposed to look after one another and comfort them when they were hurt. Nowhere in a moral book did it ever say to beat them to a pulp.

Ethan had to remind himself that an act like this would make him no better in anyone's eyes. But he had to get closure. Arnold went on after the war to become a high ranking position in Misriah Armory, the director of their URNA plant in nearby Saint Paul. The profits he had gained were immense and Chancellor used his new AI to gleam that not all of it was completely legit.

Cars began to pull up to the house's roundabout and people dressed in warm clothing emerged with a butler holding the front doors open.

Arnold was having the annual Thanksgiving party.

In a way, Chancellor loved the holidays. Not only was it a time where the family treated one another like a family. The parties his parents hosted during this time were points in which a façade would be erected to show that the Chancellors were that loving clan that was selfless and celebrated it together.

Come January after the New Year's Party. It all started again and this went on for years.

Ethan had never told anyone what really had went down inside the walls of the house before him. Not even Aegis.

As the last of the guests arrived and disappeared into the front of the house, Chancellor waited a few minutes in case of stragglers and started working his way down.

* * *

After sending his two boys upstairs to play, Arnold Chancellor was surprised to hear the doorbell ring once more.

Peering through the camera screen that was situated above the double entrance, he was surprised to see Ethan's familiar face.

The butler reached to open the door.

"No," Arnold put a hand over his glove, "I'll get this. See to it that the guests have enough champagne. There's more in the cellar if you need it."

When he had left, Arnold cautiously opened the door. He was dressed in an expensive suit to put on the air of wealth, sophistication as well as his charm from handsomely slicked hair and the slight signs of a beard beginning to grow.

"Hello Arnie." Ethan greeted, using his childhood name.

"Ethan?" He still was unable to believe his eyes.

"Here in the flesh," He gestured to himself, "You look good."

"Thanks," Chancellor nervously said, licking his lips, "Look Ethan, as nice as it is to see you-"

"Daddy!" A child's voice caused both men to look up. Just behind the barricade to their fancy stairwell were two boys that could be only about five or six. Ethan immediately noticed the faded purple of bruising on their arms. No doubt that they were being conditioned by Arnold and it stopped a week or so before the party to look presentable.

"Hey kids, this is Ethan." He looked back over at his brother, "A friend of mine."

"Hi Ethan!" They both chanted happily.

"Hi there," Part of Chancellor's heart sank at the fact that those two were enduring a terrible punishment. That and he wished that he would've been able to settle down and have a family. There was no way he would subject his own child to what he experienced ever.

As soon as the kids went back to whatever game they were playing, Arnold's voice dropped to a chill, "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to come by and see how my big brother was doing. And maybe say hi to Brock, Faith, Mom and Dad."

"You're no longer a part of this family," Elder Chancellor replied, "They're not going to reconcile."

"People have unique ways to forgive." Ethan persuaded, "I understand what I tried to do was very wrong and I'm aware no amount of apologies can atone for that, but I feel like I at least want to try and seek redemption."

His brother's face pursed at that, but he remained adamant.

"I want to forgive myself if you guys can't do the same to me."

Arnold finally nodded after deciding in his head, "Alright. We'll take your car."

As Ethan began to leave, his older brother stepped right behind and grabbed his collar, bringing the two men face to face.

"Just so you know," He snarled through gritted teeth, "Remember you're still the little brother and not the alpha male. Understand?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Chancellor drove up in a silver SUV big enough for seven people and greeted the remainder of his family without any explicit emotion.

His parents were not exactly thrilled with his return, even questioning how he had gotten out of prison. His sister Faith and brother Brock were skeptical too, but part of them missed their younger brother.

Keith was on some other world, doing his thing and Ethan was glad he wasn't here for that.

"In the car," It was more of a command than a suggestion.

His parents were aging and he helped them in along with Arnold and they drove away from the house down the winding roads.

"Ethan, it's a surprise you're out of prison." His father said.

"Things change. Listen guys, I want to know what was the deal with me and Keith being on the receiving end of a torturous life?"

"That was to make sure you were ready for the hardships down the road!" Dad roared, "You just had to stand up for it didn't you?"

"So doing all of that was to prepare me? If that was supposed to teach me anything, it taught me that being submissive was the right thing to do!"

"When you are in this hierarchy son; that was what happens. The older ones will get the privileges while the younger ones work to inherit theirs. I had to go through that with my own father and he did with his own and so on! It has been that way for generations and it is going to continue for generations!"

"And that is what your legacy should be defined by? Child and sibling abuse? Did you not care an ounce for Keith or me? I'm done with trying to make up my sins. I should just expose yours!"

"Ethan!" His mother cried out, "Think about what you're saying. This is not how our family works and maybe not everyone sees it, but it's how we are unique. I'm sorry that you had to be on the lower end, but that's just how nature intended it to be."

"You're not sorry!" Ethan snapped, "Are you trying to manipulate me again? You've never regretted your actions against me and in fact, I'm damn glad I tried to poison all of you! Fuck you all!"

He stormed out of the car, only stopping to roll down the window.

"This is your one last chance to take back everything you have done to me or Keith ever since birth."

"Ethan, alright just stop whatever you're doing," Arnold pleaded, "For one, I'm sorry it had to be that way. You're right. I treated you both unfairly and I do truly regret what I've done. Please, just let's all go back to the party and reconcile as a family."

Ethan saw right through the ruse. The rest of his pathetic family was pleading for him to stop and well knew what he was capable of doing.

"Apology accepted."

He turned around, reaching in his jacket pocket to remove a gas grenade. Flicking the pin off, he dropped it in the cabin of the car, quickly locking the doors.

The grenade fell into the driver's seat, expelling white smoke.

Seeing this, the family began to panic, crawling over one another and hitting the sides of the glass as the smoke began to fill every inch of the car. Their hits did nothing against the bulletproof glass and any action they tried to vent it out or open the doors came up empty.

Within a minute, all signs of struggle had ceased and Chancellor waved his hand.

Two forms appeared out of the foliage and walked over to the van. They both wore sealed helmets over their assault harnesses and one of them handed Ethan a gas mask.

Opening the door, he checked everyone else inside to ensure the cocktail had done its job in incapacitating. They quickly vented the gas and drove a larger van nearby.

From here on out, it would take only a few minutes to set up his plan and then, he would enact his final part of vengeance on the people who wrought him through all those excruciating years.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	29. Finale III

_**Kanclers**_** holding position over Duluth**

**November 2, 2558**

A soft rustling sound awoke Estelle Heidi from her sleep. She peered around in the dark room as if to find the source of the disturbance, however everything looked picture perfect.

Still, something was amiss.

Rising out of the bed in the nude, she wiggled her feet onto the carpet. Her hair fell back over her side, one arm covering up her bare breasts and she subconsciously placed her other hand over her genitals.

The soft rustling sound came again and when she listened closer, it wasn't really a rustling.

It was knocking.

"Miss Heidi," A faint male voice said, "Your breakfast is here."

"Coming!" She hurried back to the bathroom and slipped on that expensive Egyptian robe before sliding slippers onto her bare feet.

Hurrying to the door, she unlatched it when more shuffling sounds were coming from the other side.

Estelle was in the middle of contemplating whether she should take a peek outside when the door banged open, the jamb torn right out of the side.

The figure shined bright white lights into her eyes, blinding her to this new individual and his taller form towered over the unconscious guard.

Before the human female had a chance to scream, Vaal lunged forward and clamped a gloved hand over her mouth. She struggled against it and he used his free hand after holstering his pistol to restrain her.

"I am not enemy," He spoke in English. "Please stop."

His words did little to calm her down as she continued to thrash in his grip and part of it was actually kind of amusing. Reminded him of when he considered all of humanity his enemy. They were small creatures and when compared to a sangheili, rather weak.

"I am not letting go until you stop struggling." He continued, "If you want to live, come with me. Do you understand?"

Heidi still failed to break free of his grip, but after a while she seemed to dwell on his words before nodding.

"Good." He released his grip, "We can't stay here."

"Why should I trust you?" She looked very surprised at the turn of events and was talking to an elite of all people! "How do I know you're just another Covenant scumbag leading me to a trap?"

Vaal chuckled, "It is my duty to inform my crew of this ship's whereabouts and its eventual destruction. If you want to avoid being here when it explodes, I'm your only way out."

"Okay," She reluctantly said, "Wait, why would I abandon Chancellor? I love him!"

"The man you call Chancellor is not who you think he is."

"I know who he is," Heidi defiantly said, "He's a businessman who loves to make money and love to me. I've never met anyone like him."

"Chancellor has murdered several people within the last few days. Don't you think that having the presence of armed guards as well as sangheili aboard a former Covenant warship would mean he is partaking in nefarious activities?"

"This is a Covenant ship?"

Vaal let out a sigh, wondering how in the world Ethan had picked this one as a "mate"

"Look, we have roughly two minutes before more of his men come to find us planning an escape. If you're going to come along with me, now is the time to decide. When the ship blows up, tell Chancellor I sent my condolences after I kill him."

He began to walk out.

"Wait."

She trailed behind him just as they were about to leave.

"Fine. Lead the way."

"I would first change into something less cumbersome. That clothing will only slow you down and I assume you are wearing nothing under it. Be quick." He removed the needler out of his thigh holster, "I will watch for threats."

* * *

On the bridge of the _Kanclers_, Arcc cast a casual glance around at the small amount of crew that remained aboard the cruiser.

Placing itself just above the city of Duluth and hidden with an active camouflage from all but the best sensors of Earth's defense grid, Arcc had set up Chancellor a booth on the ground where he could watch the demise of the rest of his kin who had exiled him.

There were only two other beings on the bridge, both humans, manning navigation and operations. Both were zoned out and perfectly relaxed.

The sangheili's hand drifted towards his sidearm.

The atmosphere was perfectly tranquil as the man at the ops center was keeping an eye on patrolling UNSC aircraft and orbiting ships. The moment they were discovered, he would incite evasive maneuvers and take aggressive action to keep their activities a secret. While that was going to draw the rest of the orbital defense fleet, it would be enough to buy some precious time to get Chancellor aboard again and escape the system.

Arcc glanced back at the other officer before tapping the trigger three times.

The first bolt hit his back and he barely had time to flinch before the second one impacted his head, killing him instantly.

At the sounds of the plasma pistol going off, the second officer was looking up in confusion.

Arcc held down the trigger, causing the clawlike device to shake and produce a greenish glare. Releasing the bolt, the orb sizzled straight towards his chest.

At the briefest contact, overcharging the plasma pistol broke the skin and seared it. The thousand degree heat cooked the man straight through and parts of his ribcage could be seen, blackened along with charred flesh that produced a rancid and unpleasant smell to it.

Arcc quickly sealed off the bridge and blocked all channels of external communication. Setting an alert to anything referring to his ship, he strode over to the comms station, dancing his fingers across the light display.

It wasn't long at the bridge's large central projector that another sangheili appeared. The node he was using was just as encrypted and the golden armor shined in the light he was basking in. Forerunner glyphs ran down the sides of his chest.

"Arcc," He purred, "It has been some time."

"Yes it has Bishop." The ranger knelt to a knee, "I was wondering when I could come back."

"Spending too much time with humans," Bishop chuckled, "Nevertheless, it is good to see you once again brother."

"As it is with you." The Office of Naval Intelligence had dubbed the leader of the Abiding Truth as the Bishop and strangely the name had been adopted by the sangheili. According to human languages, a bishop meant a high ranking title and even though much of the Servants of the Abiding Truth looked at humanity with disdain, they did begrudgingly appreciate the notion.

"The cruiser is in position to strike humanity's homeworld," Arcc stood up once again before sitting in the command seat, "We await your command."

"There has been a change of plans," Bishop said, clicking his mandibles together. "We cannot strike humanity at this point. If you're in control of the ship, which I assume you are, jump it to the coordinates I am sending you."

"Another problem has arisen. There is an intruder aboard."

"Human?"

"No he is a sangheili, but he claims to be against the human."

"That what threat does he pose?"

"I do not know exactly," Arcc looked around as if he was being watched, "He is rather tenacious as a fighter and he seems to seek Chancellor."

"Then let him. Give him an opportunity to escape off the ship and return to us. We will soon be ready to strike."

* * *

**Short chapter, but things are finally drawing to a close. Just to let everyone know, Eon's third book has already been published, Brimstone Rising and I will begin updating that as soon as this is completed.**

**Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**

**MWIM**


	30. Finale IV

**Near Duluth, Minnesota, URNA**

**November 2, 2558**

Ethan Hunter Chancellor whistled to himself as he merrily trudged along with several of his men. Somewhere to his right down in a ridge were the screams of the rest of his former family and the staccato of gunfire that his men used to herd them along.

Over the years, he had read novels on where wayward individuals with rough pasts or beef against their family or bullies would reemerge years later and conduct an elaborate plot of revenge. His personal favorite was one book where the kid would exact his vengeance by gathering all of the kids (now adults) who bullied him and set them loose in a small section of a perimeter compound completely unarmed and no idea where they were before he hunted them all down in an animalistic way.

The author of that book would have been proud.

Slowly, his men began to prod his family right towards him until they had nowhere to run.

The sound of rustling branches snapped him out of his attention and he looked down in the setting sun to see Brock, Arnold, Faith and his mother and father pinned against the cliffside. Below their feet was a half foot of snow covering an icy lake.

"There's nowhere to run!"

Ethan made no effort to suppress the smile to himself. "Seal the entrance."

A moment later, a loud explosion woke the night as planted charges on the far side of the cliffs detonated, sending enormous boulders crashing down. More smaller rocks followed and the roar began to subside.

When the dust settled, the Chancellor family gasped in horror.

Their only way out was sealed.

"Now." Ethan stood at the top, "Here, you shall pay for what you did to me. What would you like on your gravestones?"

"You're a monster ETHAN!" Faith shouted, grabbing a ball of ice.

Before she could raise her arm up and throw it, Chancellor casually lifted his own arm. The gauntlet device on his wrist popped up and it blew out with a sound no louder than a blowgun.

The drill knife slug hit Faith straight in the stomach, its razor sharp tip easily skewered through. Crimson blood began to fountain through the cut in her coat and she let out an intense scream of pain. The rest were too shocked to react for a moment before they frantically dropped to her side in an effort to stop the excessive bleeding.

"Music to my ears," Chancellor sneered, "I hunt the monsters and it is for this."

The rest of his family hesitated after they thought of the same thing too.

"Who's next?"

Chancellor loaded another drill knife and fired it again. Although his aim was off, it was enough to continue terrifying the rest of his kin. He shot another, and another and another.

"I'm out of knives," He lied, "Now it's just a matter of time before you all die a cold bleak death."

It took them a second to realize what was going on. Chancellor had them chased and corralled to this spot so that he could just watch from above.

The drill knives punctured the thin ice on the top of the lake at the holes began to spawn tiny fractures spiderwebbing out. In just five seconds the end of the tiny lagoon broke free and the ice disappeared under the frigid water.

"Please son," Mr. Chancellor protested, "Please don't do this. We can still change,"

"You're way past the point of redemption," Ethan replied, before bitterly saying his father's real name in lieu of Dad "Ian."

Without warning, gunfire erupted around them and it took Ethan his eyes off his captives.

"We got incoming!" One of his men shouted, "It's the Spartan!"

* * *

Aegis held his MA5D assault rifle down the stretch as another two Chasseur goons came around the corner. Squeezing his finger on the trigger, the muzzle flashed right after he pinned them both with the laser module attached on the front. Coupled with the new Smart Scope upgrade to his usual PATHFINDER MJOLNIR armor, the rifle increased accuracy and compensated for reticule blooming in order to keep his shots on target.

Next to him, Conan Pyra in his EVA armor and Vasili Suvorov in his DEFENDER followed suit.

"Chancellor is just ahead," Pyra gestured to the lakebed, "We'll take the rest of them here."

"Got it."

* * *

"Arcc light him up with plasma right now!" Chancellor screamed into his mic.

Instead of doing that, the sound of rumbling engines sounded overhead. Through the dusky sky, Chancellor saw the _Ballista_ and two other Strident class frigates converging on his ship.

The Guardian-class opened fire, a loud metallic sound that easily made an Onager sound like a measly little alarm. He fully expected to see the _Kanclers_ return fire.

Instead, a massive slipspace bubble opened up, bathing everyone in a bright bluish glow and his personal ship, one he had modified and used for so long, exited the system and out of his grasp.

"Why won't you FUCKING DIE?!" Chancellor screamed in rage before turning back to his family. They were now huddled at the edge of the ice as the layer continued to break up.

It was taking too long. If Aegis got to him before his family was all dead, this would have been all for nothing. His own men were being massacred by Spartans and the rest of the Blades.

So much for the grand revenge plan of a slow painful death.

He raised his drill knife, centering its arc on the wounded Faith.

"Ethan Hunter Chancellor." Trip Aegis called out from behind.

Whirling around, he found his mentor clad in MJOLNIR armor pointing an assault rifle at his chest.

"Come to teach me another lesson Trip?" He retorted.

"Both of us know it's too late for that." He dryly said.

"Indeed. This is my own affair. You stay out of it."

"This is exactly why I broke you out of prison, so that you wouldn't go full blown psycho and retaliate at your family?"

"Oh so you're calling me mentally ill?"

"You need help Chancellor," Aegis slowly lowered the rifle and slipped it onto the magnetic clip on his back, "We can get you that help. It's not too late to stop this."

"Help?" Chancellor snickered, "I'M the one who needs help? Look at what I accomplished for myself!"

"And who taught you everything you knew?"

"And yet the apprentice outsmarted you, Brutes and even the Office of Naval Intelligence with their infinite wisdom? They won't see it coming and even if they did, they won't comprehend what I've done until it's too late."

"Accomplished?" Trip was wondering how really insane his former protégé had become, "You betrayed everyone who ever trusted you!"

"Why do you think I had to do that? You were the one who was given a chance to become a glory hounded Spartan while it was my dream for years! Parangosky trusted you to keep me in line! You always covered for me! Not once did you let me deal with my own mistakes!" Ethan waved his hands around, and in a mocking voice said, "Chancellor needs to do this better! Chancellor isn't ready yet! Why is he even an agent?!"

"Parangosky wanted you out!" Aegis shouted, "She thought you were a liability and too risky for ONI to set out into the field! You could've come back!"

"And what did they say about my death report?! Died in the vacuum of space!"

"She wanted you out of the field because of the things you could have done and since that wasn't possible because of me, it was also a chance for you to realize this! I defended you every step of the way and if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even be in the agency!"

"THAT'S IT!" He snarled, swinging a fist. Aegis had no time to dodge, even for Spartan reflexes as Chancellor slammed a fist straight into his stomach. The blow felt oddly powerful and despite Trip flexing his tough abs in anticipation, pain began to flare along his midsection.

Chancellor swung again and Aegis caught his fist, noting it was armored in a gauntlet. For a moment, he wondered why it was such an easy counterable move.

Then the little knife on the top popped open.

Trip twisted the arm just as Ethan fired the knife. The bladed slug whizzed by harmlessly as the motion strained the unaugmented human's limbs. He got a yowl of pain as a reward.

Aegis knew that he was going to try and kill him.

"Stand down Chancellor! This isn't worth it!"

"More orders from you old man? Well this is!"

As he raised his other arm, also outfitted with his drill knife, Trip lunged forward, grabbing the arm and giving Chancellor a nasty elbow to the stomach. As he doubled over, the knife began to fire, so he thrust the weakened arm right into his stomach.

Aegis immediately felt Ethan's grip on his armor lax out and he stared up in horror. Blood began to drip out of his midsection and he slowly backed away.

"You should know this about your report." Aegis began, trying to keep his own emotions from getting the best of him, "In there, you died the same way you're going to now."

Ethan Hunter Chancellor said nothing, just glared and stumbled backwards. His lips moved and even Trip's augmented hearing had difficulty in figuring out what he said.

"I hate you,"

Chancellor fell back into the water, disappearing with a splash. The only thing that remained of him was the eerie blood that he left in his wake.

The screams of the rest of the Chancellor family brought Aegis back to his second priority. The ice had now been fallen away with now about a three square feet patch at the edge.

Without hesitation, he jumped to the side of the lagoon, using the jutting edges that would provide zero grip to a bare hand, but his armor held on with enough strength. He reached down.

"Grab my hand!"

Chancellor's parents handed the wounded Faith to him and he easily hauled her up to safe ground. Next came Arnold, then Brock and then their mother.

As Trip was reaching down for the father, his hand suddenly shifted as the rock was beginning to break under his intense grip. At the same time, the ice finally began to give way.

"I'm losing my grip!"

Mr. Chancellor finally brushed Aegis' fingers and he pulled him upwards.

Unfortunately the ledge gave way and the way down sent the two plummeting.

Trip quickly felt weightlessness as well as a purplish glow surrounding him as well as Ethan's father. The ground grew smaller as the gravity lift pulled him upwards.

* * *

The outside quickly disappeared as the familiar interior of a Lich replaced his field of view. As soon as Ian was aboard, the lift shut off.

"Hello!" A giddy Unggoy greeted them at the top, "You must be Mister Trip!"

"Um yes?" Aegis was confused.

"I'm Ahna! Master Vaal told me who you were! He's flying though,"

"Well it's on autopilot now," The sangheili said as he rounded the corner, "What does the human saying go? We're even?"

Trip couldn't help but smile. For some reason, his friend showed up out of nowhere in a pivotal moment.

"Yeah, we are."

* * *

**First off I have to apologize for not updating sooner. There was a death in the family and of course family comes first. Thanks for being patient with me and staying faithful.**

**With Chancellor's nefarious plan ruined and him left for dead, it's time the Blades can relax. For now.**

**Eon's next book has been published, Brimstone Rising and there is a planned third trilogy in the works. More details in the next update with a character set to appear in the epilogue.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose!**


	31. Epilogue

**Alto Valeur, Fleurdelis, New Corsica**

Captain Drake Avant awaited them at the edge as the Pelican touched down on a pad in Alto Valeur's International Airport. The ramp opened with an audible hiss and he watched as Vaal Talam and Vasili Suvorov escorted a blindfolded Estelle Heidi down. He gently took over and guided her to the back seat of his car.

"Thanks for coming Captain." The Slavic Spartan shook his hand, "Sorry about the short notice, but you can close the case of her disappearance."

"That means more paperwork," Avant grinned, "Don't worry about it."

"There's something else too," He withdrew an envelope from his pockets.

"I don't want payment," Avant began.

"It's not money," Suvorov said, "And we're smart enough to know you wouldn't have accepted it anyway."

He opened the envelope and scanned the single paper.

"This can't be."

"We ran a test twice. There's no error."

"The Councilman is not going to be happy about this."

"Nor any other father that's not expecting it."

The paper was a copy of Inselton's medical examination of Estelle Heidi, who was just confirmed as positive on a pregnancy test. Ethan Hunter Chancellor was identified and confirmed as the child's father.

"What do you need me to do?" Avant asked.

"Our commander has asked that you open an account in the Republic's Bank of New Corsica and have all of its transactions in the form of child support. Even though the baby is not his, Commander Aegis does feel responsible for all letting the father do what he did and wants to provide support because we do not expect Chancellor to do the same."

"He's dead?"

"We don't know."

Avant nodded, "I'll see what I can do. Give me your number and I'll send you the details."

* * *

**Seattle, Washington, URNA**

**November 13, 2558**

Night had fallen over the Emerald City as Aegis and Drew Rayson sat at the bar in downtown, enjoying the night as well as a brief time off. The Ballista had headed straight to Seattle for resupplying after it had attempted to confront the Kanclers with many other UNSC Navy ships.

Aegis contacted the Duluth Police shortly after their departure, informing them of a body inside the lakes. He had used his ONI connections to make sure they found one because if Chancellor was dead, then at least he would have been able to save him from himself.

The feeling of regret continued to haunt him right after he fatally shot his former friend, partner and fellow agent. Chancellor had plenty of promise with him. Lots of friends in the agency, his brilliance was welcomed warmly by the REAP-X Division, who were more than happy to give him a job if he decided to retire from the field and in essence, he was training Ethan to become him one day to do the same to someone else. Give another opportunity to a man or woman who had a rather grim future awaiting and turning it around.

Chancellor may have been furious with Aegis and ONI, but even he couldn't deny that his new life was far better than what his abusive family would have offered.

The Chancellor family was transported to a trauma hospital in the city where Faith had lost a lot of blood and rushed to surgery. The doctors were able to seal the wound up and she was expected to make a full recovery. She was eventually released and while he was still upset about not being able to convince his protégé otherwise, he felt like he owed him the favor.

The rest of the Chancellor family was released and allowed to return to their homes. Unbeknownst to them, Trip had looked up all of their files and covertly placed them on the ever-growing list of suspicious people that ONI was surveilling. They were now constantly being monitored and given hints of such so that paranoia would grow. Of course it never meant anything harmful, but he was pretty sure they'd be losing their sanity fairly quickly.

Ethan's death was never formally recognized by ONI and Admiral Osman was not going to declare it official unless they had full confirmation. They were however in his favor, going to actively investigate the seemingly trivial matter of the child and sibling abuse his parents had inflicted on him. If they still weren't enough for him to find redemption, then it was enough to imply on what made him such a threat.

While going through Chancellor's things when the Ballista headed to New Corsica to investigate Chasseur's headquarters in Mistral, Leah Roush found and subsequently returned Doctor Halsey's journal to ONI. Nothing was taken, although there was evidence that he had copied several of her notes and in his own databanks had attempted to prove her wrong. Whether he succeeded or not was still unknown.

"You doing alright?" Drew asked. Aegis looked over the counter, but his partner was not actually talking to him.

Standing slim in a casual suit was Drew's formerly estranged son, Chase Rayson. He had some run-ins with the dangerous Gathering of the Hollow Societea, who had warped his empty mind and caused him to further resent his own kin. Thankfully in a whole other crazy operation, the Blades thwarted their attempts at influencing the UEG and Chase managed to see the error of his ways.

Drew was quick to forgive his son.

Ever since then, merely a few weeks ago, he had turned his life around. With a little help from the Blades, Chase now had his own apartment in nearby Renton and worked a steady job as a waiter for a hotel restaurant. The owner praised his work when they had first come in earlier for a drink, discreetly saying he was in for a promotion within the month if he kept up the good work.

"Yeah," Chase set their beers on the table, "Things are going well. I really love working here."

"Good."

"I'm sorry for getting you and your team into my mess Mister Aegis," He apologized, "Shouldn't have done that in the first place."

Trip pat him on the back, "You leave the trouble of expenses and danger to me and your father."

He turned away, "Drink your beer old man before it gets warm." At that, Drew smiled.

"That's my boy. You better get back to work."

"Any news about Ethan?" Rayson asked as his son hurried back to the kitchen.

"The police have yet to find him and they've called off the search."

"Why?"

"Nobody can survive in cold water like that for very long."

He leaned closer, "You don't believe he's dead do you?"

"If I know him, he's far from it. Let's just use the time to chill for once. Skye and Jessica are getting married next month and I'm best man. Can't miss that."

"You're still going to have to catch the garter," The older man chuckled, "I think you need another round just for dwelling on that." As Drew waved the bartender over, Aegis felt his compad vibrate. He had gotten a message.

The sender was unidentifiable, but it was the text that definitely surprised him.

"OUT OF ALL THE ATTEMPTS I HAVE ONLY SUCCEEDED IN CREATING ONE. I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED MORE TO YOU OLD MAN"

Aegis held his breath. How? It was impossible!

"I'm gonna find you." He texted back.

"GOOD LUCK"

Typical answer. Aegis thumbed in his reply.

"YEAH. YOU'LL NEED IT"

* * *

**And that's that. Another Blades story has the cover closed. I left a lot of holes though and I will have answers for them in the future, but it certainly feels good that I've now finished this one, it did drag on for a long time...almost a year. Hopefully future installments won't take nearly as long.**

**Anyway, I've been considering my next options besides the third Eon story and think that if I get enough ideas, it could really work for a long long time.**

**How would you guys like Avant to get his own story/stories?**

**I did build his character a little bit with the idea of making a third story arc around this badass special policeman. I don't know much else about what I'm going to do in that regard, but I'm working towards the idea of making it kind of an episodic type of story. This is definitely something I've never done before so I'm going outside my comfort zone, but I feel like I will be able to pull it off. In the meantime Eon's third story, Brimstone Rising is underway and yes...I have been thinking of a Blades and Eon X-Over. Maybe it will happen in the close future.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


End file.
